COVID-19 cases creeping up in Dallas County
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Local experts said they're not pushing the panic button, but COVID cases are creeping up again in North Texas.
"We are continuing to see some slow and steady increases in the number of active cases. But that's still in the context of very low numbers," said Dr. Phil Huang, Director of Dallas County Health and Human Services.
Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation, which tracks COVID cases in the county, reported a 15% rise in general population cases last week from two weeks earlier. President and CEO Steve Miff said to keep those numbers in perspective.
"Current active cases remain about 2,000 across Dallas county. That represents only about 2 to 4% of the peak omicron wave," he said.
But he said that's three to four times what we saw in March. He said emergency department visits are also up, but it's not translating to a huge spike in hospitalizations.
"The hospitalization across Dallas County remained low, only about 70 or so COVID-19 patients in the hospital," said Miff.
Texas Health Resources emergency physician Glenn Hardesty said he sees the same.
"In my observations, I haven't seen a bunch of patients that are requiring admission. It seems to be not what we had experienced previously in the emergency department," he said.
Experts said Memorial Day festivities could lead to a continued climb in cases. But they said the data show that the vaccinations are working - and they encourage those who have not yet been boosted to do so if eligible.
Recent numbers also showed that omicron is now by far the dominant variant, both locally and nationally. And sub-variant BA.2 now represents more than 90% of cases here.