The saying "The more things change, the more they stay the same," unfortunately remains true as the pandemic has continued rearing its ugly head by introducing a new variant of the coronavirus, omicron.
The new variant was first discovered in November 2021 in South Africa. While it is relatively a new sickness, it has already spread to most states, including Mississippi, according to the Center for Disease Control.
Marion General Hospital Administrator Alania Cedillo said the emergency room has seen a large increase in people sick and being tested for the virus. The good news, though, is there has also been a significant number of people the hospital has been able to treat and send home without having to be hospitalized, according to Cedillo.
Even though there have been a good many who have been vaccinated, received their booster shots and still caught the newest variant, Cedillo noted that most of those patients have had milder cases of the sickness.
"It's grabbing ahold of anybody and everybody. But it shows that vaccination is definitely protection," she said.
It is back to the original basics, she said, with masking up in public places and limiting the number of people in a gathering because omicron is showing signs of being more easily transmissible than the other variants.
The coronavirus is different than most because it keeps reinventing and recreating itself at much faster rates.
Cedillo spreads so quickly that it has become a "trial of quantity" because it appears that it affects everyone, making it harder on the workforce with large amounts of absentees at one time.
The Columbia School District announced that there will be a mandatory mask mandate for students and staff until Jan. 18 and the district continues to monitor the virus.
Marion County School District is strongly recommending masks, but are not requiring them. Students and staff are to have a mask on hand in case there are situations that requires them such as large gatherings.
