TOLEDO, Ohio — COVID cases continue to rise in the Buckeye State and across the nation as the Delta variant has become the dominant strain of the virus.
Local health officials are now urging people to take the necessary steps to keep the community safe.
"The pandemic and COVID are going to last as long as people are not vaccinated," said Dr. Kevin Casey, Chief Clinical Officer at Mercy Health.
Doctors believe Lucas County has done a good job of vaccinating people who want to be, but say there's lots of room for improvement.
They say it now seems like a race against time.
"We'll continue to have new variants, and with each new variant, it's going to make more people sick. At some point, if we don't stop it early enough, one of the variants will be something that the vaccines are no longer effective against," said Dr. Casey.
The COVID-19 Delta variant is now the dominant strain as demand for the vaccine has gone down.
Still, local health officials are urging people to do their part to help stop the spread in Lucas County.
It all comes weeks before students are scheduled to return to school in northwest Ohio, many of them already releasing their masking policy and planning to go back to in-person learning full-time.
Meanwhile, local health officials say it's best to mask up to stay protected; especially for those under 12 who are not able to get the vaccine yet.
"Really it makes it much simpler for everyone to mask up in schools above age two. Just because it takes that confusion and takes basically the conflict away from students have to be forced to wear a mask whether they're vaccinated or not vaccinated," said, Dr. Cathy Cantor, Chief Medical Officer and Pediatrician at Mercy Health.
The Ohio Department of Health has laid out recommendations for schools, focusing on vaccinations for those who are eligible and consistent masking for those who are unvaccinated.
Local doctors believe vaccinations are the key to getting through COVID and recommend all parents to really look into what the CDC and other health agencies are saying.
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