Wake Up Tri Couinties RaeAnn Tucker Latest On Omicron Variant

There were 16 new cases of COVID-19 in Henry County in the last 7 days and 0 new cases in Stark County. That's good news headed into a holiday weekend where families will be gathering and social gatherings will be occurring in many public space. The message from the Henry and Stark County Health Department is to test before your family gathering, especially if you have unvaccinated people or people with chronic health conditions planning to attend your gathering. Those with compromised immune systems and those who are unvaccinated are most at risk for COVID-19. This includes a new variant of the Omicron strain of COVID-19 which is causing an increase in cases in Europe and Asia. Thankfully, though the new variant appears to be highly transmissible, it is not causing severe illness the way the original, Delta or Omicron variants did. Still, the best defense against COVID-19 remains vaccination and for those over the age of 55 or those with compromised immune systems, a new booster shot of the vaccine is available now at Health Department locations in Kewanee and Colona.