Beaumont doctor warns that tests aren't detecting new COVID-19 variants

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Beaumont is seeing a decrease in COVID-19 patients in its hospitals. However, with new variants emerging, there's still a risk, doctors say.

"System-wide at Beaumont we peaked at about 850 Covid patients, and now we’re down to about 360 Covid patients," said Dr. Justin Skrzynski, with Beaumont Health. "We still have a tremendous number of deaths, not just hospitalizations, not just cases, but deaths from Covid every day, so we're still not out of the woods in terms of Covid, but at the same time definitely catching a reprieve."

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Skrzynski said the newest variant, a subset of omicron, is causing problems because it isn't being detected on Covid tests. So, paying attention to symptoms is critical right now.

"The new variant is a version of omicron. And one of the things that makes it notable is the fact that because it’s so much different than previous Covids, it’s not necessarily lighting up our Covid tests. That’s why people are calling it the stealth variant because sometimes people can have it, but the tests will all come back negative," he said.

Skrzynski said if you don't feel well, stay home or wear a tight-fitting mask if you do not feel well but test negative.

"Vaccine provides excellent protection against dying from Covid," he said. "If we have variants of Covid that are not able to be detected, the best protection is to have that immunity. The best way to get that immunity is to be vaccinated."

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