COVID is still around, and all you have to do is watch the news or read the newspapers to know that at least 400 to 500 people a day in the United State is dying of coronavirus or coronavirus related issues, said David A. Garza, precinct 3 Cameron County commissioner.
“It’s not gone. The pandemic might be over, but COVID is with us, the complications associated with bronchitis, RSV, flu, strep, chronic pulmonary conditions, are creating very unique circumstances for invasive viruses to take control of bodies and shut them down,” Garza said.
Garza made the comment at Tuesday’s Cameron County Commissioners Court, as the commission welcomed in the new year.
Garza operates a San Benito pharmacy and said he has seen the number of COVID-19 related issues occurring.
The latest numbers recorded in Cameron County from Dec. 23 to Dec. 30, indicated there were 973 laboratory reports of COVID-19 in the county with 343 confirmed cases based on PCR testing. There was also one COVID-19 related death. The person who died was fully vaccinated.
“It’s not unusual that we saw over the course of the last two weeks an entire family COVID positive and that wasn’t a lot of fun to see, especially when many of the doctors were gone and you couldn’t find your local providers to help you,” Garza said.
Some school districts in other states are asking students and staff to wear face masks when they return to the classroom following winter break.
In Boston, a school district is asking students and staff to wear masks through Jan. 13 to mitigate the spread of the virus and other diseases, Boston.com reported.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the community level of COVID-19 cases in the four Rio Grande Valley counties is listed as medium.
If your community level is listed as a medium, CDC encourages residents to do the following:
>> Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines;
>> Get tested if you have symptoms;
>> Wear a mask if you have symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19;
>> Wear a mask on public transportation;
>> You may choose to wear a mask at any time as an additional precaution to protect yourself and others;
>> If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider wearing a mask indoors in public and taking additional precautions.
“Let’s not let our guards totally down. Let’s sometimes do it for the guy in front of us that has chronic conditions that we may not be aware of that we need to be careful with,” Garza said.
