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Experts warn COVID-19 numbers could increase during the holiday season

Health experts say if the Coastal Bend experiences another surge local hospitals would be better equipped to put a handle on the situation.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Dr. Chris Bird of the Texas A&M Corpus Christi coronavirus task force says so far, the Coastal Bend has been doing well at keeping new COVID-19 numbers down to a minimum.

But with the holidays moving in, colder weather and more business occupancy, experts warned, these numbers could bounce right back up.

"Where we are right now seems to me like the trope, right there. We haven't done this yet. do I expect that it's going to go up from here? I do," said Dr. Bird.

Annette Rodriguez, Public Health Director said the Coastal Bend could potentially see a COVID surge during the holidays.

"We believe that we're going to be seeing that right around thanksgiving so right around before Christmas time," said Rodriguez.

If that surge does hit, she said local hospitals would be better equipped to put a handle on a situation they've experienced before.

"They how to extend their capacity, because they were doing a lot of that, they were stretching their capacity. They know how many ventilators they have. They know all these things that are gonna help them through the second wave," Rodriguez added.

Rodriguez said help at the state and national level will be called on, if necessary.

"We depend on the state. We depend on FEMA to be able to come out and help us with core teams coming over and helping us with COVID patients".

Rodriguez said, right now, even though we are not seeing a spike cases here locally, doesn't mean COVID skipped town and everything is back to normal, because if we did, history just might repeat itself.

"Doesn't mean we should just let our guard and say we're good, we know what we're doing. We thought that when we reopened Texas and we all saw how that worked out. It didn't work out well for us," said Rodriguez.

The Coastal Bend has flattened the curve once, but experts warned, letting another COVID surge hit is dangerous for the community.

For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.

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