There will be more COVID-19 variants, according to Johns Hopkins University experts

Experts speak on COVID and mask mandates

March will make two years of living with COVID-19, and it’s not done yet. Two experts with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health held a briefing today, telling reporters: There will be more variants.

BALTIMORE, Md. - "There will be more [COVID-19] variants in the future," a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health expert said on Thursday in a virtual briefing.

The good news, the expert said was, "We have vaccines, we have treatments and therapies – all which can minimize severe disease in most people."

The experts involved in Thursday’s "Living with COVID-19, Variants, Testing and Contact Tracing" discussion included Dr. Andy Pekosz, a virologist and vice-chair at the Bloomberg School’s Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Department, and Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security senior scholar, Dr. Crystal Watson. Watson's work focuses on public health risk assessment.

Dr. Pekosz told reporters eventually the virus will pigeonhole itself where it’s no longer able to change or mutate as much. That’s when the Johns Hopkins-Bloomberg expert said everyone can start talking about COVID-19 like the seasonal flu.

However, there was no timeframe given for when that will happen. The experts did note on Thursday … we’re not there yet.

FOX 5 asked a few questions regarding when mask mandates can end in both indoor public and school settings.

"I think right now is not the time to do that," Dr. Chrystal Watson said. "We have such high levels of virus circulating in our communities. For many communities, we are at or above 100 cases per 100,000 per day and what we want to get down to is the range below 10. Below one is where we really want to be."

When it comes to school mask mandates, Dr. Watson told FOX 5, "I think one component of this decision will be when – when can the youngest kids and all kids really have the opportunity to be vaccinated. Once that occurs, and we have much lower levels of transmission, then I think we can have these conversations about masking in schools, but that may be a little while to come yet."

Dr. Watson also discussed the significance of mitigation measures, noting some areas have stronger mitigation measures in place than others.

The experts also said contact tracing and testing are still very important, especially as health experts work to detect any new variants forming.