By Caleb Wheeler | Staff Writer
McLennan County is facing an upsurge of COVID-19 cases this year, alongside the viruses and respiratory infections that often come with the beginning of a semester, Baylor medical director Dr. Sharon Stern said.
McLennan County issued a statement saying, “With the rise in COVID-19 cases, hospital emergency rooms are packed.”
Dr. Vaidehi Shah, senior epidemiologist at McLennan County Health Center, said although there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases this month, the increase has been manageable.
“Right now, we are at 42 a day, and last month, we were at 10 cases a day,” Shah said. “But even with that increase, it is still manageable. When we look at COVID-19, we are looking at severity, we look at fatalities. It is endemic now, and we are never going to reach zero cases, but we are in a good spot right now. We haven’t overwhelmed our hospital capacity.”
This spike in cases comes alongside a new variant of the virus. BA.2.86 is the latest strand of COVID-19, which has the most mutations of any strain since omicron. The most recent vaccine booster offers protection from the strand, to the point that lab research indicates no concern about it.
“BA.2.86 is a mutation of the omicron variant,” Shah said. “Omicron is still [the] dominant variant all around the globe. All we know so far is that it is transmissible, but it is not highly transmissible. We know our vaccines still work against it, and we know our tests still work against it.”
The McLennan County Health Department no longer offers COVID-19-specific reports, but it reports the county as being at low risk. McLennan County also issued a set of factors that increase a person’s chances of catching the virus as well as some ways to improve protection.
People are at greater risk if they are older, suffer from a weak immune system, have underlying medical conditions, have had a previous infection or live in a community that is affected harder than others.
To combat the virus, people are urged to have good ventilation systems, avoid positive or exposed individuals, get vaccinated, quarantine if exposed and seek timely treatment.
Baylor encourages students who are ill to stay out of class and contact their professors concerning their absence. Baylor also offers resources in the Foster Success Center and the Counseling Center for students who require assistance with class attendance.
