It was a big Saturday for Wendy Gale. She went out to dinner in Santa Barbara and then attended a concert.
But Tuesday night, she started feeling sick.
"Very tired. Run down. That's how I started feeling," said Gale. "That was the first sign. I thought I was feeling tired, and then I started coughing. After that, I got a headache and knew I had something."
Was it the flu? Or was it COVID? Her home test kits had expired, so she went to the doctor’s office. A test confirmed she has COVID.
"It definitely feels worse than a cold," said Gale. "I did feel I had it...a lot of muscle aches, joint pain, headaches. I had a feeling I had it. That's when I went and got tested. We're going to have to think about it, because it's going around again."
COVID cases are spiking again in California. The Centers for Disease Control reports that California, Nevada, and Arizona had a 12.5 % positivity rate for COVID tests last week, the highest in the nation.
"We have seen a small surge in our area," said Dr. Uldine Castel, Ventura County’s Public Health Officer. She talked about the latest COVID variant, which has appeared in the U.S.
"We don't have great data locally about variants because we aren't seeing a lot of testing being sent out to detect the variant," said Castel. "The most common one right now in the Western States is the variant called 'Stratus'. It's an omicron offshoot. It causes a specific constellation of symptoms. The most prominent one is a severe sore throat."
There is no updated vaccine for the latest variant, but Castel said people who have been vaccinated in the past have some protection.
"Because it's an offshoot of omicron, the previous vaccines should give you some pretty good protection against it," said Castel. "If the vaccine doesn't prevent you from completely getting it, the severity of your illness is decreased."
She added that people over 65 or with preexisting health issues should get a booster if they haven’t had one in the last year. She said the current thinking is that people should get a booster annually, like a flu shot.
For Gale, who was diagnosed with COVID, her plans for a Wednesday night playing cards with friends turned into watching Netflix while eating soup.
"When they said I had it, I wasn't thrilled. I think it's still a little frightening. But, I know it isn't what it used to be, which is good. It's going around again, unfortunately."
Castel said while there is a surge, it’s a term that needs to be used with perspective. "The word surge sounds a little bit scary...tsunami-esque. But, if we go back (compare things) to August of last year, we are still below those numbers. It's a surge compared to where we were a few months ago, but if you take a birds-eye view, it's not anything out of abnormal since the start of COVID."
