COLUMBUS, Ohio — COVID-19 has evolved and mutated a lot compared to the first cases the U.S. saw over four years ago.

What You Need To Know

  • The FLiRT variant is the most recent variant of COVID-19 and has been responsible for the most recent cases

  • Officials said the spike in cases is due to increased gatherings held in the summer

  • Following the CDC COVID guidelines (handwashing, masking, distancing, etc.) can help protect you and your family

COVID-19 cases are up about 27% in Ohio, compared to a few weeks ago. However, doctors like Joseph Khabbaza of Cleveland Clinic said that communities shouldn’t be too concerned, because the base number was pretty low to begin with. Current numbers from the Ohio Department of Health are just above 3.7 million statewide. 

This spike during the summer months is not unfamiliar to Ohioans. Summer spikes have been a trend the past few years, but Khabazza said that unlike cold and flu season, COVID doesn’t have a peak season. Instead we see waves of cases at various points of the year. The Cleveland Clinic critical care physician see’s an average of one to two patients a day. While most symptoms are mild, COVID is still a pretty hard infection to navigate. 

“In the outpatient setting, we're not seeing people getting very sick,” said Khabazza.”These spikes and a lot of the more recent variants have not been causing a lot of a lot of heavy disease, which is exactly what we want, but it's still not a fully seasonal virus yet where we can predict what months are more likely to have higher cases than others, because that can vary as different variants take hold.”

Mark Cameron is an infectious disease researcher at Case Western Reserve University. He attributes the spike to the increase of travel and big gatherings that take place during the summer. The spread most likely occurs due to a new variant or new infection accompanying people on a plane coming from another country and those people then go to large gatherings like festivals and concerts. While these summer numbers aren’t a big concern, Cameron said that they could foreshadow what we may see later in the year. 

“As things like return to campus, return to fall activities can raise cases again, and then by the time you're into late September, into October, that's the typical start of the cold and flu season,” said Cameron. “These summer variants do develop and seed and change for our cold and flu season.” 

The CDC gives some guidelines on how to protect yourself during this wave of cases:

  • Have your latest COVID booster shot, because this will cover all new variants and mutations of the virus
  • Make sure to have good surface and hand hygiene, so that means washing your hands for at least 20 seconds and wiping down counters and tables with disinfectant. 
  • Test yourself because COVID variants can often be perceived as a cold or the flu
  • Mask up if you are out or at gatherings 

You can always contact your healthcare provider to schedule your booster shot or visit your local pharmacy.