>> Cathy: WE JUST TALKED ABOUT IT, PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID THIS WEEK AND CURRENTLY ISOLATING AT HOME.

THE PRESIDENT IS NOT ALONE IN HIS ILLNESS AS COVID CASES ARE ON THE RISE ACROSS THE OUNTRY, AND HERE IN MINNESOTA.

DR. MIKE OSTERHOLM IS BACK WITH US, HE HEADS UP THE CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH AND POLICY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA.

YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU WERE HERE LAST YOU SAID THINGS ARE LOOKING REALLY GOOD WHEN IT CAME TO COVID NUMBERS.

NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS SURGE RISE IN INFECTIONS, NO SURPRISE GIVEN THAT IT IS JULY?

>> WELL, FIRST OF ALL, JUST TO PUT IT INTO PERSPECTIVE ACTUALLY JUST SIX WEEKS AGO WE HAD ABOUT 50 DEATHS A WEEK IN THE STATE FROM COVID.

NOW WE'RE UP TO 141.

AND SO IT IS RISING.

WE ARE SEEING AN INCREASE, AND BUT THIS IS THE SAME STORY THAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT FOR FOUR YEARS.

THIS VIRUS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CONTINUE TO CHANGE ITSELF, THESE NEW VARIANTS.

AND EVERY TIME THAT HAPPENS IS GIVES IT ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO ESCAPE KIND OF THE IMMUNE PROTECTION THAT WE'VE HAD, AND IT ALSO IN SOME CASES IS MORE INFECTIOUS WHICH THIS ONE APPEARS TO BE.

THEN YOU ADD INTO HAT WE NOW KNOW WITH VACCINE OR INFECTION ITSELF YOU GET PROTECTION FOUR TO SIX WEEKS -- FOUR TO SIX MONTHS FOR HOSPITALIZATIONS AND DEATH AND THAT'S GOOD.

BUT THE PROBLEM IS MANY OF US ARE WELL BEYOND SIX MONTHS SINCE OUR LAST VACCINE OR SINCE WE HAD IT.

NOW YOU'RE SEEING THIS COLLISION OF THIS NEW MORE INFECTIOUS VARIANT WITH MORE AND MORE PEOPLE WHO HAVE SUSCEPTIBILITY AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE SEEING.

>> Eric: WAIT 'TIL SEPTEMBER OR TAKE THE PLUNGE NOW?

>> THIS IS A REAL CHALLENGE, I HAPPEN TO BE RIGHT AT THE PINNACLE OF THAT QUESTION MYSELF.

AT 71 YEARS OF AGE, FOUR AND A HALF, FIVE MONTHS SINCE I GOT VACCINATED LAST, AND THE QUESTION WE'RE ASKING, SHOULD I GO GET THE OLD VACCINE ONE MORE TIME WHICH ISN'T ALL THAT GOOD ANYMORE BECAUSE THE VARIANTS HAVE MOVED ON, OR WAIT LIKELY UNTIL AFTER LABOR DAY BEFORE THE NEW VACCINE WHICH WILL HAVE THE COMPONENT PARTS IN IT OF THIS NEW VARIANT.

AND, YOU KNOW, IN THE MEANTIME IT DOESN'T HELP TO GET SICK AND DIE IN TERMS OF WAITING FOR THE NEW VACCINE.

SO A LOT OF US ARE KIND OF DEBATING.

I'M ACTUALLY ON THE EDGE RIGHT NOW OF THINKING OF GETTING THE OLD VACCINE ONE MORE TIME.

>> Cathy: CAN YOU AS AN EPIDEMIOLOGIST CAN WE DETERMINE HOW LONG SURGES LIKE THIS COULD LAST?

>> NO, WE'RE IN UNCHARTED TERRITORIES WITH OVID.

WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS THAT THEREFORE BEEN NINE MAJOR SURGES IN THIS PANDEMIC UP TO NOW.

AND THEY'VE OCCURRED IN ALL FOUR SEASONS, EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THE SEASONS.

EACH ONE WAS REALLY TIED TO WHEN THE NEW VARIANT SHOWED UP AND STARTED TO TO SPREAD AND HOW LONG DID IT LAST, IN SOME CASES IT WAS EIGHT TO TEN WEEKS, SOME CASES MORE 15 TO 20 WEEKS.

WE REALLY DON'T KNOW.

A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE WANTED TO CALL THIS A SEASONAL VIRUS MEANING THAT IT OCCURS TYPICALLY IN ONE SEASON, THAT'S NOT TRUE EITHER.

IT OCCURS IN ALL SEASONS, THAT'S WHAT IT MAKES T A SEASONAL VIRUS I GUESS.

SO IT'S GOING TO CONSTANTLY BE TIP BATTLE BETWEEN GETTING VACCINES, HOW OFTEN YOU GET A VACCINE AND IN FACT RECENT STUDY SHOWED IT DIDN'T MATTER HOW MANY DOSES OF VACCINE YOU HAD, IT'S WHEN DID YOU GET YOUR LAST ONE.

>> Eric: COULD THE TWO REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC THAN CONVENTIONS TURN INTO SUPERSPREADERS?

>> ABSOLUTELY, ANYTHING WITH LARGE CROWDS INDOORS COULD VERY WELL BE THAT.

FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUNGER WHO DON'T HAVE UNDERLYING CONDITIONS, THIS TENDS TO BE MORE MILD FLU-LIKE ILLNESS.

>> Eric: HOW ABOUT PRESIDENT BIDEN?

>> HE OBVIOUSLY IS AT RISK FOR SERIOUS ILLNESS AT HIS STAGE IN LIFE AND WHAT HE HAS FROM HEALTH ISSUES BUT AT THE SAME TIME HE WAS VACCINATED AND HE'S ALREADY HAD IT ONCE BEFORE WITH ADDITIONAL IMMUNITY ON BOARD THERE AND HE RECEIVED PAXLOVID IMMEDIATELY THE DRUG AND HE'S GOT GREAT CARE.

ONE OF THE CHALLENGES WITH COVID IF YOU PROGRESS TOWARDS SERIOUS ILLNESS, IF YOU HAVEN'T HAD HEALTH CARE UP TO THAT POINT YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO SEE IT.

IF HE HAS ANY REAL CHALLENGES THEY WILL CLEARLY GET HIM ADDITIONAL HEALTH CARE, SO I THINK HE SHOULD RECOVER AND DO FINE.

>> Cathy: ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THE FLIRT VARIANT?

>> IT'S THE FLIRT VARIANT WITH ONE MORE ADDITION TO IT.

THESE MUTATIONS KEEP OCCURRING.

THIS IS WHY BACK IN 2020, I WENT BACK AND LOOKED AT SOME OF THE OLD DISCUSSIONS WE HAD AND WE TALKED AT THAT TIME ABOUT THESE VARIANTS ARE THE GAME-CHANGERS.

WE DON'T HAVE AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE LIKE THIS, EVEN INFLUENZA CHANGES SEASON TO SEASON SOMETIMES BUT NOT THREE OR FOUR TIMES A YEAR, THAT'S MADE THIS A MUCH MORE COMPLICATED SITUATION TO DEAL WITH.

>> Cathy: HAVE YOU NOTICED DIFFERENT SYMPTOMS THIS TIME WITH FLRT?

>> YOUNGER PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE UNDERLYING HEALTH CONDITIONS TYPICALLY HAVE COLD SYMPTOMS, SNIFFLES, FEEL BAD FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS.

WHEN WE'RE SEEING THE PROBLEM AND WE HAVE OUTBREAKS IN MINNESOTA OR AT LEAST INCREASED NUMBER OF CASES IN LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES, THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY MOST VULNERABLE RIGHT NOW TO SERIOUS ILLNESS, WITH THAT WE ALSO HAVE TO WEIGH IN WITH.

>> Eric: KEEP US