Coronavirus cases are on the way back up in Texas, which is not a great sign headed into winter. But experts say this second surge may not be as bad as the first.
Let’s connect the dots.
This summer coronavirus cases exploded in the Lone Star State in some regions like Houston and the Rio Grande Valley. ICU beds filled up fast and health care officials struggled to keep up.
Starting in August those cases started to fall -- the hospitals stabilized and a lot of leaders breathed a sigh of relief. But it looks like that relief won’t last.
Cases in Texas are starting to creep back up and so are hospitalizations for coronavirus. And while that is worrying for medical experts as we head into the cold and flu season, there are some differences this time around.
First, we know more. Not just about how to treat people with coronavirus but how to stop it’s spread.
Another helpful difference is who is getting infected this time around. According to Dr. James Mcdeavitt at Baylor College of Medicine, the majority of these new case are in people in their 20s and 30s. That age group tends to better against coronavirus, meaning less of a strain on our health care system.
But experts do warn if we let our guard down this modest surge could become something much worse.