CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Nueces County is experiencing its highest COVID-19 surge of the entire pandemic.
On Wednesday, Jan. 13, the county surpassed the pandemic record for total active cases at 9,751 current infections. The previous record was set on Aug. 16, 2020 with 8,627 active cases.
On Jan. 1, there were 1,545 active cases, which means there has been a 531% increase in COVID-19 cases locally in just 12 days.
Health leaders believe this surge is due to the omicron variant, which was just discovered in Nueces County one week ago. Public Health Director Annette Rodriguez said the variant was probably here much earlier than that.
"We know that around Dec. 14, right around the middle of the month of December, is when omicron probably got here to Nueces County," Rodriguez said.
Though hospitalizations are down compared to the delta surge, Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales said area hospitals are still facing tremendous challenges.
The County had asked the state for 95 nurses and respiratory therapists. The good news is that some of those workers are already here.
"We are at the same exact point that we don't like to be which is that we have diminished hospital capacity," Canales said. "This is where people have to understand we already have Over 60 state nurses and respiratory therapists working in our community to help us out."
To see the data on local COVID-19 infections, visit the city's dashboard here.
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