Omicron is on the sidelines of healthcare professionals as they break through Texas

((((Texas Tribune & ProPublica)- Omicron variants have led to a surge in positive cases throughout Texas, with COVID-19 cases comparable to last winter in some hospital areas.

Currently known to be more infectious than Delta and the original strain, this variant has the highest positive rate in the state, with a positive covid test at least once every five times.

By mid-December, Texas had a positive case rate of over 10%, and the state saidRed zone,An assessment that federal authorities encourage more restrictions to limit the spread of the virus. After more than a week, this rate more than doubled and reached its highest point with a positive rate of 22.3%.

High positive rates have not yet led to a dramatic increase in deaths and hospitalizations in Texas, but some states with a surge in COVID-19 cases in November and early December have record hospitalizations for the virus. Is close to or exceeds it.

Michigan, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire reached their highest hospitalization rates in December. According to CNNHowever, the number of patients being treated for COVID-19 in Texas hospitals is well below the surge seen in the winter of 2020 and this past fall.

on Tuesday, Austin American Statesman The Austin area is reported to return to stage 4. It recommends that partially and unvaccinated people avoid unnecessary activities such as eating and shopping indoors.

The experts Tribune spoke to have seen an increase in COVID-19 patients in hospitals and expect them to increase. However, this more infectious variant has a significant impact on hospital staffing, said Dr. James McDavid, executive vice president and clinical director of Baylor College of Medicine.

“The difference from this surge is that it’s very infectious, everyone gets sick, and everyone calls for illness,” McDavid said. “It’s not about the number of people in the hospital, but about the number of health care workers who themselves get sick and need to be quarantined.”

And many hospital Permanent record Shortage of nurses, Even if there are ICU beds available, there may be no one to staff.

Across the state, 1 in 14 inpatients are treated for COVID, but hospitals servicing the El Paso region and Texas Panhandle have far more, at least 1 in 6 A person’s bed is occupied by COVID-19 patients.

According to Dr. Rodney Young, Texas Tech University Health Department’s regional chair of family and community medicine, the high proportion of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the Amarillo region is due to lower vaccination rates, prolonged delta surges, and society. This is due to resistance to target distance measurement. Amarilo Science Center.

“Approximately 90-93% of hospitalized patients are unvaccinated,” Young said. “The number is close to 98% for critical care and about 60% for ventilators.”

Increasing numbers of cases in the community are also affecting elderly care in Texas and criminal justice systems in the state, and infected staff and visitors are infected with the virus in areas where people often live closer. May cause you to.

Number of active COVID-19 cases in Assisted Living Facility Although the state has more than doubled in the last two weeks, the 124 active cases registered on Monday are just a few of the more than 900 cases measured this time last year.

“We are in the early stages of this wave and we are still monitoring it,” said Carmen Tilton, Vice President of Public Policy at the Texas Aid Life Association. “The data do not show a wildfire at the Assisted Living facility in Texas.”

Tilton, advocated by the organization on behalf of supported living facilities throughout the state, is the best defense to identify cases early and limit contact between active staff, residents, or visitors. He said that it is possible to comply with mask policies, screenings, and tests.

“If you have a high-level community in your surroundings, you’ll see positive cases because of the positive cases,” says Tilton. “These buildings cannot be sealed.”

According to Karen Hall, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Texas Criminal Justice Department, positive cases are rising again in state prisons.

“We’ve seen an increase, just as we see an increase when community incidents increase,” Hall said. “It’s not as dramatic or dramatic as it was in the first outbreak or delta (variant).”

Hall said the maximum number of weekend cases came from prisons in Anderson and Fort Bend counties, both of which have increased in the last two weeks.

About one-third of the state’s correctional facilities have immunization rates of over 70% for both prisoners and staff, and the other half of the facilities have immunization rates of over 50%.

Over the weekend, there was also an increase in positive cases among young people and staff at a state juvenile correctional facility with 37 children who tested positive for COVID-19 at a Texas juvenile justice office facility. This is the case for more young people than distributors registered in the last nine months, the highest daily positive rate since the summer of 2020.

Brian Sweeney, a spokesman for TJJD, said:

The agency also recorded 23 positive cases among its staff that weekend. It includes 10 cases on the McLennan County campus where all but one youth case occurred. The virus spreads rapidly, but the cases are mild, so authorities speculate that these are Omicron cases.

According to Dr. Esmaeil, the surge in positive cases is a level that most communities, including the Houston region hundreds to two weeks ago, have never seen in a pandemic, with an average daily number of cases of 5,000. It is over. Porsa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Harris Health Systems.

“So far, that crazy increase in the number of cases has not been equal to the crazy increase in hospitalization,” Porsa said. “They are rising, but not in proportion to the number of cases.”

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