Doctor: Current COVID-19 surge in Abilene spreading more, but less severe

Abilene's cases of COVID-19 are on the rise, but hospitalizations are not increasing at the same pace, Dr. Rob Wiley, Hendrick Health chief medical officer, said during a Wednesday media briefing.

"People who are getting this virus, it tends to look more like a cold or low-grade flu. Usually lasts seven to 10 days," Wiley said about the current cases.

"The ones who are being admitted typically will have some underlying illness or may have some immunocompromise," he said.

Because of the availability of home tests, the actual number of COVID-19 cases in the community is probably higher, with people isolating with mild symptoms and not visiting a clinic or doctor's office for further testing, he said.

The BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the omicron variant are accounting for about 65% of current COVID-19 cases, he said.

"So BA.5 variant is very contagious, and it tends to kind of avoid the immune system and the vaccines. However, with the disease, it tends to be very mild," Wiley said.

With such a contagious version of COVID-19, he continues to recommend good hand hygiene, avoiding exposure to people who have tested positive and getting vaccines.

"Vaccines are still recommended, even for the BA.5 variant, just because it provides protection against severe disease or hospitalizations," Wiley said.

Novavax released this week a more traditional kind of vaccine for COVID-19. The two-shot vaccine may appeal more to people who are hesitant of the vaccines based on the new mRNA technology, he said.

Hendrick Health currently has the COVID-19 Community Safety Dial at Level 3: High Risk. The highest level is 6: Emergency.

Several factors go into setting the dial, including number of confirmed cases, hospitalizations, hospital staffing and community data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

If cases continue to increase, the Health System will move to Level 4: Severe, which would prompt at the health system's facilities mask requirements, screenings and limited visitations, Wiley said.

"So we're right up against that," Wiley said about the risk of moving to Level 4.

But, he is hopeful that this current surge will be leveling soon.

"We tend to lag behind the nation by about two to three weeks, and so where the rest of the nation is kind of slowing down in its surge, we're picking up a little," Wiley said. "The hope will be that before school starts we'll see that decline."

Taylor County adds 66 cases Wednesday

The Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District reported Wednesday 66 new cases of COVID-19, 10 of which were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction testing.

Active cases Wednesday totaled 1,414 (381 PCR tests and 1,033 antigen tests), compared to 1,388 Tuesday and 1,116 the week previous.

The percentage of COVID-19 inpatients in the 16-county Abilene trauma service area was 2.73% Tuesday, compared to 2.71% Monday and 3.24% Sunday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services COVID-19 database.

The Abilene trauma service area Tuesday had 25 COVID-19 inpatients, one more than reported Monday. In the previous 24 hours, there were six COVID-19 admissions in the area, according to the state database.

Coronavirus by the numbers

Abilene/Taylor County (Wednesday data): New cases, 66; PCR cases, 13,670; active PCR cases, 381; total antigen probable cases, 23,606; total active antigen cases, 1,033; total PCR recoveries, 13,633; total antigen recoveries, 22,220; Total deaths, 646.

Texas (updated Wednesday): Total cases, 5,976,935; New cases, 7,690; Hospitalized, 3,465; Fatalities, 87,458; New fatalities, 30; Total tests, 68,345,940.

Big Country estimated new daily confirmed cases (Wednesday, as tracked by the state): Brown, 10; Callahan, 0; Coke, 0; Coleman, 2; Comanche, 0; Eastland, 1; Erath, 5; Fisher, 1; Haskell, 0; Howard, 7; Jones, 1; Kent, 0; Knox, 0; Mitchell, 3; Nolan, 9; Runnels, 0; Scurry, 7; Shackelford, 0; Stephens, 0; Stonewall, 0; and Throckmorton, 0.

Sources: City of Abilene, Texas Department of State Health Services (counts PCR cases only) San Angelo Standard-Times

SELECT PRISONS (Wednesday update)

Daniel (Snyder): Staff cases – active, 0; Inmate cases – active, 0, medical isolation, 0.

Havins (Brownwood): Staff cases – active, 0; Inmate cases – active, 0, medical isolation, 0.

Middleton (Abilene): Staff cases – active, 7; Inmate cases – active, 4, medical isolation, 4.

Robertson (Abilene): Staff cases – active, 8; Inmate cases – active, 0, medical isolation, 0.

Sayle (Breckenridge): Staff cases – active, 3; Inmate cases – active, 6, medical isolation, 6.

Wallace (Colorado City): Staff cases – active, 2; Inmate cases – active, 0, medical isolation, 0.

Source: Texas Department of Criminal Justice COVID-19 website.

More:COVID-19: Taylor County adds 72 cases Tuesday

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene doctor: COVID-19 spreading more, but cases less severe