CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As the Nueces County daily COVID numbers remain in the triple digits, health experts believe that as we begin a new year, we will continue to see the same roller coaster effects of COVID on our lives.
"What we're trying to do here is get this pandemic under control,” Dr. Chris Bird with the Public Health District's informatics and modeling team, said. “This is our fourth wave in a row. Every six months we're having a wave and it's getting predictable at this point. You asked me what I think is going to happen in six months? I think we're going to have another wave."
Bird also believes Omicron is the first in an evolving line of variants, which are trying to break down our COVID immunity defenses.
“The virus is evolving to escape your immune response now,” Bird said. “The first one, it was evolving to become more transmissible, because there are a lot of people to infect. Now there are not as many people to infect who haven't already been infected. So, it's evolving to escape your immune response and omicron is really the first variant in that vein."
The Director of our Public Health District, Annette Rodriguez, said folks need to take action to try and keep themselves and their families safe during this surge.
“People need to take heed of the warning and do what works. If that means staying home, stay home; if that means lessening what you're doing, going out with other people, then you need to do those things,” Rodriguez said. “This one is hitting hard and we need to be ready."
County Judge Barbara Canales said she has ordered rapid test kids for county employees so they can head off any outbreaks among her employees. Canales added she is making sure that anyone who needs a vaccine or booster shot can get one.
“Today, my focus is on senior citizens in assisted living centers, vulnerable populations, like shelters, our halfway houses,” Canales said. “We're going to be reaching out to even the jail, across the board, offering those boosters again to make certain that they can ultimately be protected."
The county's testing site at the old Memorial Hospital will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for those who think they may have COVID or may have been exposed.
The county run vaccination sites that were open last year, such as the one at La Palmera and the Robstown Outlets, remain open and stand ready to hand out free vaccines to those who want to do their part to control the latest surge under control.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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