County indoor mask mandate proved timely

A week ago, Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel ordered a resumption of the indoor mask mandate for individuals, requiring face coverings regardless of vaccination status. At the time, it felt like yet another COVID-19 burden just when many of us were feeling the worst was behind us. But we’d guess most Santa Cruz County residents grudgingly accepted the measure as a presumptive prescription for the inevitable transmission of the virus during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Today, that order looks prescient.

That’s because that along with turkey last Thursday, Americans got an unwelcome helping of new COVID-19 news – the emergence of a new virus variant, which has already gained a name, the ominous sounding “Omicron” (taken from the Greek alphabet, not from science fiction), which on Friday prompted a number of border closures and, after the World Health Organization labeled Omicron a “variant of concern,” sent the stock market into a sharp decline (it rebounded Monday). COVID-19 infections have been tracking upward in the U.S. in recent weeks as well.

By now, most of us are somewhat inured to alarming COVID-19 news. The caution is that evidence so far is lacking on just how contagious the new variant is, or how sick it makes people, or even how well our present vaccines limit infections although some researchers think Omicron’s highly mutated spike might be able to evade antibodies produced by a previous infection or a vaccine.

But many scientists and health officials believe the existing vaccines will help to ward off severe illness and death, even if more people become infected by Omicron.

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday emphasized the continuing power of vaccination, even against variants. “It may not be as good in protecting against initial infection,” Fauci said, “but it has a very important impact on diminishing the likelihood that you’re going to get a severe outcome from it.”

Sunday, California health officials reiterated the need for everyone who is eligible to be vaccinated, for high-risk people to get boosters and for anyone experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to be tested. California already is increasing COVID-19 testing at airports for American citizens and permanent residents arriving from eight African nations. All other travelers from those countries were barred from entering the U.S. starting Monday.The state will also continue to test coronavirus samples to track whether Omicron is circulating in California.

While it’s probably inevitable the new variant will be found in California, it’s worth emphasizing there has not been a major spike in new cases in the state and that 67.4 of all Californians are fully vaccinated.

The trends are similar for our county. As of a week ago, there were 517 known cases here with 222 total deaths. There were nine people hospitalized with the virus but none requiring ICU hospitalization. Nearly 68% of county residents (or about 185,000 people) were fully vaccinated.

Beyond what many are already doing – getting vaccinated and boosted, wearing masks indoors, avoiding large crowds in unventilated spaces – we expect the federal government to improve global vaccine distribution especially in countries with low vaccination rates.

What should not happen is new lockdowns, sending our fragile small businesses, schools and public institutions reeling again.

We know a lot more about the virus than we did a year ago. We’re better prepared if Omicron does spread and proves more virulent than other strains. It’s also worth remembering that vaccines generate T-cell immune protection, beyond antibodies, that variants can’t easily evade.

Not only are major vaccine makers working with the U.S. government in preparing to tweak their mRNA vaccines and boosters to combat the new variant if necessary, but anti-viral COVID-19 pills have shown significant success in trials in preventing serious illness. The FDA needs to approve these medications as soon as possible.

And we agree with President Biden’s Monday message – “This variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic.”