As the number of new covid-19 cases in Illinois continues to rise, Jackson county has moved to medium level.
Jackson County Health Department Division Director Paula Clark says most of these new cases are the BA-2 variant.
"It's highly contagious, and we saw that with delta and omicron, but not causing as severe illness."
Clark encourages people to wear a mask in public, and, she stresses, get boosted.
"And I do hear people say I think maybe I might wait 'till the fall to get my booster. Well it's best you know right now, I think another reason we're seeing an uptick is because people's immunity is waning."
Clark says as people are not getting tested as much and are relying more on home testing, the number of new cases could actually be higher than officially reported.
