DETROIT (WWJ) -- Have you recently been invited to a "COVID party"?
WWJ's Dr. Deanna Lites reports there are are some people, in Metro Detroit and elsewhere, who are deliberately trying to catch the highly contagious Omicron variant by hanging around infected friends and family.
Dr. Dennis Cunningham, Director of Infection Control and Prevention for Henry Ford Health System, says that because most cases of Omicron result in mild symptoms, there are those who've decided that they want to get infected.
Why?
"People may want to get COVID thinking they're going to be immune from the virus and they can go back to their normal life," Cunningham said.
"But we've seen with omicron that just because you were infected with one variant, it doesn't mean that you're going to be protected against the future variants... So, I'm not a really big fan of this."
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With omicron, studies have found the most common symptoms are runny nose, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, sneezing and sore throat. And although Omicron may spread more quickly, appears to be less deadly than previous variants — especially for those who are vaccinated against COVID-19.
While Cunningham says vaccination offers the best protection against COVID-19, he strongly discourages anyone from attending a "COVID party" — whether you're vaccinated or not.
"Most people are going to do well (with an omicron infection)," he told Lites. "But how do you know that you're not going to be of the unfortunate few who winds up really sick?"
COVID-19 hospitalizations do remain high in Michigan, while health officials say Omicron is the most dominate variant. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), those who are most likely to end up in intensive care, or to die after becoming infected, include people over age 65, and those with certain medical conditions.
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