Coronavirus caseload numbers remain low, but the number of close contacts has been on the rise through the spring with community activities large and small back on the calendar.
Lyon County Public Health Emergency Preparedness Director Jennifer Millbern says a lot of those close contacts are fully vaccinated, which is helping to minimize the spread of the virus. However, there has been at least one complication as Public Health tracks the overall situation.
Another concern, both locally and nationally, is the development of certain variants. The majority of Lyon County’s variant cases — 16 in all — have involved the B.1.1.7 UK strain, but there is now one confirmed case of the B.1.6.1.7.2 Delta variant.
The Delta variant is also of concern because there are some indications that current treatments aren’t as effective on it as they are on other variants. However, fully-vaccinated residents have a much lower risk of infection from the Delta strain than partially-vaccinated or unvaccinated residents.
