COVID-19 cases could be on the rise in Houston

HOUSTON – Heat waves might not be the only kind of wave Houstonians have to deal with in the next few weeks, as experts from the Houston Health Department have predicted a potential “Covid Wave” as cases have been slowly increasing over the past five weeks.

Earlier this week, KPRC 2 spoke to Dr. David Persse, Chief Medical Officer at the Houston Health Department, who said that him and his colleagues had been seeing an increase in cases lately.

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“We’ve been seeing an increase in the amount of Covid that we’re detecting in the waste water,” Persse said. “We’ve also been seeing more cases in doctor’s offices, but fortunately we haven’t had too many cases that have required patients to be admitted to the hospital.”

To track potential spread, the Houston Health department tested waste water from 40 different water treatment plants for traces of the virus.

They noted small increases in viral load over the past five weeks. As of June 17, the team found that viral saturation had reached 273%.

While this number might sound high, it’s still much lower than it was during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In July of 2020, for example, they said that saturation levels reached over 1500%. However, experts say that these increases are to be expected given what they know about how the virus behaves.

“COVID-19 exhibits different behavior from other respiratory illnesses,” said Porfiro Villareal, a public information officer employed by the Houston Health Department. “We see different spikes, and because it’s a new virus it behaves differently from what we might typically expect.”

For example, Villareal noted that most respiratory illnesses spread during colder seasons, but that COVID-19 has proven to spread well during warm months as well, which could contribute to a “summer wave” of new cases.

However, he doesn’t think this should be a cause for serious concern. While COVID-19 has exhibited some unique behavior and requires further study, Villareal said that it’s not too different to how scientists adapt to new flu strains each year.

Much like the flu, COVID-19 is likely to continue mutating, but Villareal said that this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to spiral out of control. Instead, he said it was more likely that scientists would continue to create new Covid boosters to address future mutations.

In the meantime, he encouraged people not to panic, but to take reasonable health precautions such as masking when in crowded spaces and taking special measures to protect populations that might be immunocompromised.

But above everything else, Villareal had one simple piece of advice for anyone worried about potentially getting sick:

“Now more than ever, it’s time to make sure you’re caught up on your COVID-19 vaccinations,” Villareal said. “Viruses are unpredictable, but the vaccine is safe, effective, and the best thing you can do for your health, especially if you have any loved ones in your life that might be vulnerable.”