Duval County health department warns of another COVID surge due to omicron

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Department provides 4 recommendations for Jacksonville residents amid vacation season

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health successful Duval County offered a informing connected Thursday, saying to expect different surge of COVID-19 successful the coming months due to the fact that of the omicron variant.

The wellness section enactment retired a announcement with the informing astir the highly contagious variant.

“The caller variant is expected to origin the top surge successful COVID-19 infections to day successful the coming months,” the wellness section said successful the notice. “Early grounds suggests that Omicron is 2 to 3 times arsenic contagious arsenic the Delta variant, making it 4 to six times arsenic contagious arsenic the archetypal strain of the COVID-19 virus.”

The wellness section besides enactment retired 4 recommendations for Jacksonville residents, particularly arsenic radical stitchery for the holidays:

Vaccinate: Get vaccinated earlier gathering, attending events oregon traveling. Get a booster erstwhile eligible. Layer extortion with a flu shot.
Test: Get a COVID-19 trial earlier joining gatherings with others who are not successful your household and earlier and aft traveling, careless of your vaccine status.
Mask: Wear a disguise indoors successful public, adjacent if you are vaccinated.
Prevent: Continue rigorous manus washing and see avoiding ample crowds.

“Vaccinating against COVID-19 remains the astir effectual mode for radical to support themselves from superior illness, hospitalization, and death,” the wellness section said. “Once vaccinated, individuals ages 16 and older should get a booster. Those who received the Pfizer oregon Moderna vaccine should get a booster 6 months aft their 2nd dose. Those who received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine should get a booster 2 months aft their archetypal shot.”

If you request to get tested, News4JAX has compiled a database of COVID-19 investigating sites successful Northeast Florida. To find further testing, arsenic good arsenic vaccination, locations, sojourn FloridaHealthCOVID19.gov/.

Testing sites astatine Jacksonville assemblage centers volition beryllium closed Thursday and Friday. The beaches tract was unfastened Thursday, but it’s closed Friday. They volition each reopen Monday.

Omicron has not yet been officially detected successful Duval County, but local doctors told News4JAX that they judge it’s already here and that they judge it’s conscionable a substance of clip earlier it’s confirmed.