You have been hearing about how the coronavirus has changed and that a new variant is now in the New Orleans area.

So how does that change things and the way you protect yourself?

Here’s some of the latest information from recent studies.

There are at least three or four new variants of the coronavirus from different countries. The one from the U.K. now in Louisiana is more contagious. Why? Because it can enter our respiratory cells more easily. Predictions are it will become the predominant virus in the U.S. by March.

LSU Health infectious disease specialist Dr. Fred Lopez said that's worrisome.

“If that's the case and it's really 50 to 70 percent more transmissible, you can see that we're going to be in for a challenging several months. Adding that into the equation is going to increase the likelihood that we're going to have a surge on top of this surge we've just been going through,” said Dr. Fred Lopez, Infectious Disease Specialist at LSU Health Sciences Center.

He said the vaccine is still effective, but now for herd immunity, more than 70 percent of people may need to get it.

“It may be that with these increasingly transmissible viral strains, that we may need to go to 85 percent,” said Dr. Lopez about the number of people who may need to get the vaccine for community protection.

So should you wear two masks to protect yourself now like you may have seen some others do?

“The key is the fit and the filtration properties of those masks,” explained Dr. Lopez.

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