Central Kentucky is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases. But health officials say the spike in the cases is not translating to an increase in hospital visits from the illness.
Dr. Muhammad Iqbal is a pulmonologist, or lung doctor at Baptist Health Hospital in Richmond. He said cases have been so mild that many people don’t realize they have it.
“As we speak, we have 6 or 7 patients in the hospital, which is honestly the highest we’ve seen in a while, but none of them, thankfully, are very sick. Two or three of them came in for something else and we found them to have COVID, so we have to go through isolation protocols.”
He said many people who are catching it are experiencing milder symptoms.
“They are coming in, mostly with fever, we had two or three people come in with sore throat that was just a little too troubling for them, of course we tested them. With this new variant, we’re seeing a little bit more of those other symptoms, like sore throat, headache, a little sinus fullness.”
Dr. Iqbal said while the severity of the illness appears to be weaker, people should still use precautions to protect those with compromised immune systems. He said masking and being vaccinated are still highly recommended.
