Legacy doctor recommends taking precautions as COVID-19 cases rise
July 13, 2022
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Melinda Muller, MD, Legacy’s associate chief medical officer, doesn’t like being the bearer of bad news, but she recently told KOIN TV that now is the time to mask up, once again.
That’s because the newest subvariants of COVID-19, BA.4 and BA.5, are reportedly three times as contagious as the original disease and are causing case counts to rise.
“I know everybody is tired of (masking) and it’s annoying, but it still does work,” she said.
The Oregon Health Authority reported 46,000 positive COVID-19 cases in June. The upside is that less than 3% of those cases required hospitalizations, and even fewer of those patients required care in an intensive care unit.
Still, any COVID-19 hospitalization puts pressure on healthcare systems throughout the region that are seeing high patient counts from people being treated for other health needs.
Health officials recommend wearing a mask in indoor settings. Muller also recommends getting a vaccine if you haven’t received one yet.
“It still does work,” she said. “Everyone I talked to this last weekend (who caught COVID-19 even though they are vaccinated) said there were sick, but they weren’t horribly sick.”
