 As the Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to spread, health officials are warning of monoclonal antibody scarcity following increasing cases of the virus. Tuesday, Mountain Top spoke with Pike County Health Director Tammy Riley about current case numbers and what we can expect from the virus in the coming weeks. Well, we're still continuing to see new daily highs. For the last seven days, we've seen 995 new cases as reported to the health department. So that's just an incredible new number. If you look at the rolling chart, the graph of weekly cases, which I can share with you, you'll see a new spike that ultimately towers over the Delta surge. With an added 995 active cases since last Tuesday, Riley states that the virus's plateau may be a week or two from hitting its peak. In comparison to other states, however, Pike County is slightly behind. In Pike County with Omicron, what I saw was a slight delay in our surge. That did not happen with Delta. For whatever reason, Delta, we saw our surge at about the same time like Northern and Central Kentucky saw theirs. With Omicron, I saw a slight delay in Pike County. So I'm not sure if that means we'll decline it about the same rate as the rest of the state. Hopefully that's true. I'm not seeing a plateau yet. It probably will take another week or two. But again, you know, 995 cases in seven days, that's 245 cases per day per 100,000 or around 145 raw average. At Pikeville Medical Center, we believe that together we can make a difference in the fight against cancer. We are proud to have patients who have experienced successful outcomes over many years. As always, we believe in the power of faith. Pikeville Medical Center, where cancer can be defeated. As Omicron continues its path across the United States and the world, a mutation of the virus known as stealth or BA.2 has been discovered. However, little is known as it is hard to detect. Riley says they are concerned regarding resources to fight the virus. Omicron, there's been scarce resources for monoclonals. You know, for example, a 20-county area in the Big Sandy area receives about 60 doses per week. So very, very few of those are coming in now. So really, vaccines are our most important and useful resource that we have available to us, especially with the concerns of mutations coming. So public health has been talking about this for some time and the importance of vaccination and how that plays into our toolbox for fighting against this. Lastly, Riley states that it is important to get vaccinated and or boosted for those able. If you have questions or if you would like to get vaccinated, you can contact the Pike County Health Department at 606-437-5500. For Mountain Top News, I'm Joel Chorjol.