Email from Dr Eliason, Medical Director of Dearborn County Health Dept. Received this afternoon.
Good afternoon,
Although our county is currently at "Orange" during the last 24-48 hours we have seen a very concerning uptick in cases of COVID-19. This has placed a serious strain on our hospital and other hospitals in the area. It is anticipated that the all of the area hospitals might reach their full capacity within the next two weeks. We are also seeing more sick children with the delta variant. The delta variant spreads 2-3 times faster than the previous variant, and the number people infected can double in 8 days.
For this reason I am strongly recommending masking for all indoor activities in the county when social distancing of three feet is not possible. If a person chooses not to wear a mask, they should quarantine if identified as a close contact.
This recommendation will not prevent or eliminate the disease, but it will help to slow the spread and thus take some of the burden off of our already stressed health care systems.
Schools will soon be sending out revised guidelines for parents, staff, and students.
Also it is still true that the vast majority of these patients are unvaccinated. This is apparent at the local, state, national, and international level. If we do not want to go through all of this, it would be helpful if more people got vaccinated. Vaccination is a far better solution than attempting to control the disease through efforts like masking. Vaccination is also far safer than taking your chances with this disease. History has repeatedly shown the effectiveness of vaccination. The combination of natural immunity plus vaccination will eventually lead to the end of the pandemic.
In addition there are other safe measures that should be considered, such as protecting the vulnerable (elderly or immunocompromised), hand washing, avoiding crowds, and good ventilation such as opening windows.
I am deeply sorry about the whole situation, but I appreciate all of you and your support.
Please help spread the word,
S Eliason, MD
