State health officials are growing more confident that the peak of Omicron infections in Texas is in the rearview mirror. But they are still urging the public to proceed with cautious optimism as the threat of COVID-19 will linger for some time.
After cases plateaued for much of January, infections over the previous week are down about one-third compared to what there were in the previous seven days, said Chris Van Deusen, the director of media relations at Texas Department of State Health Services.
鈥淲e鈥檙e certainly getting a lot more confident that it looks like we have reached the peak and the peak is in the past,鈥� he said Tuesday, when the case count was current as of Sunday.
Van Deusen said the data is based on PCR tests, which are more sensitive than at-home antigen tests. Those showed a positivity rate just below 30%. That鈥檚 still very high, he said, though a considerable drop off from last month.
鈥淲e were over 35% for a couple of weeks in early, mid-January,鈥� he said, adding that hospitalizations across the state have also dipped.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 sort of what we鈥檇 expect to see. Usually, you start to see cases either go up or go down and hospitalizations follow," he said.
The statewide trend is mirrored in some of the state鈥檚 largest metro areas. Dr. Philip Huang, the Dallas County Health Director told the county鈥檚 Commissioners Court on Tuesday that new cases and hospitalizations have decreased. However, he added the hospital system remains strained as emergency room visits, though on the decline, are near the peaks seen when the delta variant of COVID-19 was dominant.
鈥淚t's good news that it's declining and is declining pretty rapidly. But we still are at relatively high levels, so it is not an indication that we are out of the woods and everyone (can) just go back to normal,鈥� Huang said.
In Houston, the city health authority, Dr. David Persse, said the data there also shows a decline in cases and hospitalizations.
鈥淧retty much every metric we look at 鈥� whether it be wastewater, positivity rate, hospitalizations 鈥� they鈥檙e all moving in the right direction,鈥� Houston Public Media. 鈥淢y only concern is sometimes folks sometimes over-interpret that.鈥�
While a drop in cases and hospitalizations is good news, Persse said, the counts are still higher than previous waves.
鈥淭he numbers are all still moving in the right direction but they鈥檙e high,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he positivity rate in the county as well as the city are still in the 20s, so those are still high numbers.鈥�
In the Lubbock area, over 20% of all hospital patients have tested positive for COVID-19. That鈥檚 held steady since the beginning of the year and is comparable to other high hospitalization peaks over the past two years.
Dr. Mike Ragain, chief medical officer at University Medical Center in Lubbock, said he does not think most people understand how dire the situation is. While the omicron variant is generally less severe for most people, that鈥檚 not the case for everyone. Especially in Lubbock, where less than half of the population is vaccinated against the virus.
Ragain said public apathy is fueling this surge. 鈥淧eople are totally tired of the pandemic,鈥� he said.
Van Deusen said he鈥檚 hopeful the state鈥檚 positivity rate will get below 5 or 10% if current trends continue. But he echoed others in pleading for the Texans to not drop their guard.
鈥淲e still expect there to be many more infections as we continue this downtrend,鈥� he said. 鈥淗opefully it鈥檒l be less and less everyday but that doesn鈥檛 mean there is zero risk out there.鈥�
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