CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Dr. Chris Bird, former head of the Coastal Bend COVID-19 Task Force, will once again be working with Corpus Christi and Nueces County officials to track the recent rise in COVID-19 cases in our area.
Bird, an associate professor at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, told 3News on Monday that he has been contracted by the Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District to lead their Informatics and Modeling Team.
That team will handle the same tasks previously handled by the COVID-19 Task Force, which included tracking transmission rates, hospitalizations and case projections when it comes to COVID-19.
The Task Force was officially disbanded in early June.
The new Informatics and Modeling Team will be led by Bird and a group of TAMUCC students.
Since mid-July, the Coastal Bend has been experiencing a huge spike in COVID hospitalizations and new COVID cases. The Health District has also added community testing back to the mix.
"We were all seeing these numbers decreasing very comfortably," said Public Health Director Annette Rodriguez. "Everybody was getting a little laxed. CDC had given us the guidance that if you were fully vaccinated you can take off your mask."
But then, not enough people were getting vaccinated or wearing a mask.
"We didn't think that we would be here a year and a half later," said Dr. Kim Onufrak with the Health District. "But unfortunately, it seems to be worse than before."
This time around, Dr. Bird is back, and now the lead of the Informatics and Modeling Team.
"To provide projections, informatics," said Dr. Bird. "Answer questions that the public health department needs and the public."
Rodriguez said with Dr. Bird and his new team, the Coastal Bend will be able to see for themselves that numbers don't lie.
"Just by the sheer volume of cases coming into our fax machines and phone calls that we're getting, the community doesn't see it and so we want to make sure the community has what they need to make good decisions and how to protect themselves," said Rodriguez.
In the meantime, the health district will be conducting mass testing at the Old Memorial Hospital and community vaccinations seven days a week at La Palmera mall.