Total Access Urgent Care sees rise in positive COVID-19 cases; new variant causes cases to rise across the globe

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - The CDC says a new COVID-19 variant is causing more problems than any other variant.

The variant, known as EG.5, is an off-shoot of the Omicron and has been found in 51 countries, with the second largest number of cases being here in the US.

The new variant isn’t a concern for Melody and Steve McIntosh.

“We try to stay away from crowds to begin with,” Melody says. “I think that’s where you’re gonna get your biggest number of cases.”

The McIntosh’s are spending their summer road tripping around the country.

“We travel in an RV which we consider to be safer because we’re not in hotel rooms if people are concerned about that,” Melody says. “We’re not flying.”

Neither Melody nor Steve have been vaccinated and have no plan to be, saying they stay as healthy as they can when traveling.

“If nothing else, I think it’s made people wash their hands more, which I think is really good,” Steve says.

In St. Louis, Total Access Urgent Care is seeing a spike in people coming in with symptoms and testing positive for coronavirus.

Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations Kelly Baynes says positivity rates of patients jumped from 6.4% in June to 17.5% this month.

“We’ve also had a lot of travel this year,” Baynes says. “People traveled more this year than they have in the last few years, so that could be a contributing factor. Sports are starting again. We have band practice and cheerleading, and football practice. Everyone is starting to get together again.”

When it comes to getting a COVID-19 booster shot, Baynes says it should be in the back of your mind.

“This is definitely the time to start thinking about fall vaccinations,” Baynes says. “They usually will get us through the winter for the season coming up so now is the time to start thinking about that. We’re recommending a COVID vaccine as well as a flu vaccine.”

News 4 checked and health departments in St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Charles are stocked with COVID-19 vaccines.

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