Safety guidance changes as Omicron cases climb

With COVID-19 case confirmations on a continued climb in the first two weeks of 2022 thanks to the exceedingly contagious Omicron variant, scores of Southeast Texans have no doubt been exposed in the not-so-distant past. With evolving health care guidelines, it can be difficult to discern how to safely proceed after potential exposure. In an effort to remedy any rift in readers’ COVID knowledge, The Examiner has compiled updated guidance from local and nationally-known doctors.

“Because it’s such a contagious virus, it has just spread like a wildfire,” said Dr. Qamar Arfeen, Beaumont Baptist Hospital’s COVID Unit Lead Intensivist. “Christmas Eve, we had just a few patients with COVID in the hospital. Now, we are almost to max capacity. So, it took just two weeks for it to affect a massive population of patients.”

According to data from the Beaumont Public Health Department, 3,391 Beaumont-area residents have tested positive for COVID-19 in the first 12 days of 2022. Jefferson County reportedly had 148 COVID-positive patients in its hospitals as of publication, and Arfeen says the peak is yet to come.

It’s true that the Omicron variant is less virulent and deadly than its predecessors, Arfeen told The Examiner on Jan. 12, the same day Beaumont Health Department Director Kenneth Coleman announced the city’s first Omicron confirmation, a 74-year-old man. While Arfeen and Coleman agree Omicron was already circling through Southeast Texas based on how quickly this COVID surge spread, testing for the variant can only be done in a small number of labs already inundated with tests. Additionally, many patients simply weren’t being tested for Omicron explicitly since treatment options remain the same.

While the Omicron variant is less deadly than Delta, it spreads more quickly, too – and doctors say it still poses a deadly threat to residents with underlying health conditions.

What do I do if I’m exposed to COVID-19?

For unvaccinated residents who have beenexposed to a person with COVID-19, the first step the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says to take is to stay home and quarantine for at least five full days. Additionally, those who have been exposed are advised to, “Wear a well-fitted mask if you must be around others in your home.”

“Even if you don’t have symptoms, get tested at least five days after you last had close contact with someone with COVID-19,” CDC officials wrote in a Jan. 9 report. “Watch for symptoms until 10 days after you last had close contact with someone with COVID-19.”

Vaccinated residents who have been exposed to COVID-19-positive people, according to the CDC, do not need to stay home and quarantine – unless they develop symptoms. However, it’s still advised to get tested five days after having close contact with someone with COVID-19.

“Watch for symptoms until 10 days after you last had close contact with someone with COVID-19,” CDC guidelines state. “If you develop symptoms, isolate immediately and get tested. Continue to stay home until you know the results. Take precautions until day 10. Wear a well-fitted mask for 10 days any time you are around others inside your home or in public. Do not go to places where you are unable to wear a mask.”

I’ve received a positive
COVID test, so what now?

Regardless of vaccination status, residents who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five days and wear a well-fitted mask when around others, according to Arfeen and CDC guidelines.

“To calculate your five-day isolation period, day zero is your first day of symptoms,” according to the CDC. “Day 1 is the first full day after your symptoms develop. You can end isolation after 5 full days if you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and your other symptoms have improved. Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation​.

“You should continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public for five additional days (day six through day 10) after the end of your five-day isolation period. If you are unable to wear a mask when around others, you should continue to isolate for a full 10 days. Avoid people who are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease, and nursing homes and other high-risk settings, until after at least 10 days. If you continue to have fever or your other symptoms have not improved after 5 days of isolation, you should wait to end your isolation until you are fever-free for 24 hours.”

A looming peak

Southeast Texas hasn’t seen the current surge’s peak yet, Arfeen warned, but it’s going to peak soon. When that happens, local hospitals could be faced with overflowing ER departments akin to the summer of 2021, when Delta drove health care workers to find resourceful ways to accommodate more patients than they’d ever seen at once.

“It’s not about the mortality, or how deadly it is; it’s about how much it will burden our health care system and how full our hospital is going to be,” Arfeen said. “If half the hospital is occupied by COVID patients, we have no room to accommodate people who have other illnesses besides COVID.

“It’s much different than Delta, which hit us during a slow time for the hospital in the summer,” he explained. “Omicron is hitting us at our peak time for the hospital admissions for other illnesses and diseases. It’s beginning to overburden the hospital system; that’s what we’re starting to see.”

Arfeen says among COVID-positve patients in Beaumont hospitals, the majority are unvaccinated, and those who are vaccinated and still need hospitalization are experiencing milder symptoms.

“The other thing about vaccination is that a lot of vaccinated people haven’t received their booster shot, which tells you how important the booster is,” he explained. “A lot of our vaccinated patients with COVID had their last shot a year ago, so we see that the immunity doesn’t last that long.”

As Southeast Texas health care officials prepare for yet another COVID surge to affect area hospitals, government officials are having trouble securing an ample supply of antibody drugs that reportedly significantly alleviate COVID symptoms.

According to Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick, who last week tested positive for COVID, “We received notice this morning that our allocation of sotrovimab this week is 84. This is two-thirds of last week’s allocation. Fortunately, the state’s contractor has been able to secure other allocations of Bam and Regeneron, which, while not as optimal as sotrovimab we are told, will still be dispensed in accordance with physician directives.”

“We have a shortage of antibodies, which we know to work well in treatment,” Arfeen said when asked about hospital supply. “We have a very small supply of it, so we are saving it for those who are high-risk.”