COVID-19 cases are rising for a second time across the Rio Grande Valley since the first surge this past summer.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services’ (DSHS) COVID-19 dashboard as of Friday, 28% of the Valley’s hospitalizations were COVID-19 patients.
Cameron County Health Authority Dr. James Castillo says the rise was already being seen after the Thanksgiving holiday.
“When you had a lot of virus circulating around the time of all those gatherings it just really caused the number of infections to start going up at a very rapid pace,” Castillo says.
DSHS Region 11 Medical Director Dr. Emilie Prot says the difference between the first surge to now is more treatment options.
“We have more therapeutics so we do have different options for people,” Prot says.
Doctor Prot says the therapeutic offered is Regeneron, a monoclonal antibody treatment for patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms given at infusion centers.
Castillo says the state assisted in opening the infusion centers and are just one step to help patients.
“We’ve already treated more than 600 people in an effort to take some pressure off the hospitals,” he says.
He says the infusions being used now are something that hasn’t been available during the summer spike.
Chief Nursing Officer for Harlingen Medical Center Amy Flores says her hospital is preparing for a second surge but worries about space.
“The issue you will see across the Valley is room,” Flores says. “When we have a lot of patients that need to be admitted, at some point, eventually you run out of space. ”
Flores says the hospital does have plans in place to address any spacing issues after learning from the first surge in the summer.
She also urges people to continue to practice social distancing, wearing masks, and minimize gatherings to curb the spread of the virus.
Vaquero Radio attempted to contact Hidalgo County Health Authority Dr. Iván Meléndez but we did not hear back.
We also attempted to contact UTHealth RGV Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michael Dobbs and Dean of UTRGV School Of Medicine Dr. John Krouse but they were unavailable to speak.
For Vaquero News, I’m Justin Elizalde.
