• Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
  • CCPA
  • Medical Disclaimer
Friday, February 3, 2023
Galveston County News Online
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
    • Crytpocurrency
    • Gaming
    • Gadgets
  • Sports
  • Health
  • General
    • Business Services
  • Travel
  • Press Releases
  • Popular
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
    • Crytpocurrency
    • Gaming
    • Gadgets
  • Sports
  • Health
  • General
    • Business Services
  • Travel
  • Press Releases
  • Popular
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Home News Local News

Massive And Mild: Omicron’s Surge Looks Different Than Earlier COVID Waves In Galveston County – Galveston County Daily News

massive-and-mild:-omicron’s-surge-looks-different-than-earlier-covid-waves-in-galveston-county-–-galveston-county-daily-news
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

GALVESTON

In sheer numbers, COVID-19 has never been worse in Galveston County.

On Friday, the number of identified active cases topped 9,000 for the first time ever, according to the county health district.

But fortunately, the human and social consequences of COVID aren’t measured in sheer numbers alone, so things aren’t as bad as they have been or could be, health officials said.

Patients at the University of Texas Medical Branch aren’t as ill as they had been during past spikes, Galveston County Local Health Authority Dr. Philip Keiser said.

“The people I was seeing were not in as bad a respiratory state,” Keiser, who also is a physician at the medical branch, said. “Surprisingly, they were looking much more comfortable than they did last go-around.”

Some events are being canceled. Parents were warned to be ready to drive their children to school because of infections among bus drivers. Jury trials have been stopped at the county courthouse for at least two weeks.

For the first time since early in the pandemic, the health district opened a drive-through testing site to deal with the large demand.

As omicron infects greater numbers of people, consensus is growing that the variant is more infectious, even for vaccinated people, but causes milder symptoms.

In Galveston, as across the country, medical officials say people going into hospitals with COVID-19 have different and less severe symptoms than with previous strains.

Dr. Shawn Nishi, a professor and program director of the medical branch’s pulmonary critical care unit, said all COVID-positive people in the hospital aren’t there because of COVID.

On Thursday, there were about 40 COVID-positive patients at the medical branch’s Galveston hospitals, Nishi said. But only about half of the patients had traditional COVID symptoms such as shortness of breath, Nishi said.

The other half were incidental diagnosis in people hospitalized for things other than COVID, Nishi said.

They were found to be infected because the medical branch tests every patient who enters the hospital, Nishi said.

That’s a big difference from the delta surge last summer, she said.

“We did not notice asymptomatic cases,” during delta, Nishi said. “It wasn’t to this level at all. Omicron in general seems milder.”

Most recent COVID patients are complaining of sore throats, body aches and “feeling kind of cruddy,” along with diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. The loss of the sense of smell, one of the signature signs of earlier infection, is less common now, she said.

Fewer people are using intensive care beds, and public reports show that while hospitalizations are near where they were in September, at the downturn of the delta surge, the number of people requiring ventilators to breathe in this region is about equal to November, when cases were at one of the lowest points.

That’s not to say things are good, Nishi said.

While hospitalizations from COVID-19 are not as high as during previous surges, more hospital workers are getting sick from the highly contagious strain, Nishi said.

“Our division had not really gotten sick until this variant hit,” Nishi said. “It’s just super contagious. We’ve been so careful. But despite our best efforts, we’ve had people in our division going down.”

That means more work for doctors, nurses and others who’ve spent the past 22 months treating people for COVID-19 and trying to catch up on treating people ill with other things when COVID subsided — and then facing a new wave.

“We’ve been in a higher state of businesses this whole time,” Nishi said. “It’s not like we ever went down to pre-COVID hospitalization levels.”

There are few, if any, signs the latest surge is peaking. Cases are expected to rise in days to come, Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday.

“I don’t believe we’ve seen the peak yet here in the United States,” Walensky said during an appearance on the “Today Show.”

In South Africa, where some of the earliest reports of omicron infection appeared, new daily cases rose for about four weeks before dropping dramatically. In Galveston County, the sharp spike in cases began about the middle of December.

“We’re all hoping things follow the pattern they did in South Africa,” Keiser said. “I can’t say we’re there yet. The numbers are still going straight up.”

Galveston County News Online

© 2021 Galveston County News Online

Navigate Site

  • Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
  • CCPA
  • Medical Disclaimer

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • DMCA Policy
  • Medical Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure
  • CCPA
  • Terms of Use

© 2021 Galveston County News Online

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT