NUECES COUNTY, Texas — Coronavirus cases around the country are surging due to the Delta variant.
Here at home, local cases are seeing a pretty big jump. It's one we have not seen in some time since mid-April.
Nueces County reported 148 cases on Tuesday. The last time we were triple digits was April 19 with 117 cases.
Sadly, there was one COVID related death noted in Tuesday's report. At this time 69, people are in the hospital. Of those, 24 are said to be in intensive care.
On Tuesday, city leaders got a briefing on the latest uptick of local COVID-19 cases from the director of the city county health district who also provided some interesting details on breakthrough cases.
Breakthrough cases are defined as folks who have had the vaccine and still ended up getting the virus. 145 fully vaccinated people in Nueces County have still managed to get the virus, according to city leaders.
Here's how the district is breaking down the numbers.
Health Director Annette Rodriguez said 16 fully vaccinated folks were hospitalized and there were four deaths. Three of those patients had co-morbidities.
"67 of them received the Moderna vaccine, 51 of them received the Pfizer, 26 received the J&J vaccine, and there was one unknown," said Rodriguez.
Numbers show that it was anywhere from 25 to 54 days after that last dose of the vaccine when those patients got sick prompting this message from Rodriguez.
"While we were telling individuals after your last vaccine after about two weeks, you are considered fully vaccinated," said Rodriguez.
"I think because of these statistics, even though its only four deaths, it warrants us saying go ahead and wear your mask for two months then you can feel free to take it off."
Right now, the county's vaccination rate is just over 40%, compared to the state which is at 39%.
Rodriguez said what is most concerning is that hospitalizations have drastically increased at area hospitals.
"Seeing this increase, 245% in hospitalizations, and an increase of 155% in ICU within the last few days of July, we believe this is attributed to the Fourth of July where more people were congregating together," said Rodriguez.
While the more contagious Delta variant has not been confirmed in our community, health officials have their suspicions.
"We believe the Delta variant is here; we have sent spec off to the state, and we expect them in two to four weeks," said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez encourages people to protect themselves by getting the vaccine.
Keep in mind, out of the 145 fully vaccinated people who caught the virus, that is only about .01% of everyone who has been vaccinated in Nueces County.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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