COVID Cases Double in Three-Day Span Here

The number of COVID cases in Fayette County doubled in a three-day span.

Sunday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services there were 80 active cases of COVID in Fayette County. By Wednesday that number stood at 157. The extremely contagious omicron variant of the virus has resulted in similar jumps in case numbers nationwide. Generally, omicron cases are milder than other strains of COVID, but that’s not always the case, and there have been some concerning developments locally this week.

Up until last week, there had not been an increase in hospitalizations for COVID at St. Mark’s, but that changed starting Monday Jan. 3.

St. Mark’s CEO Mark Kimball said “we are seeing a bump” in patients and that has included “both vaccinated and unvaccinated” individuals. Vaccination and boosters remain one of the best tools to avoid serious COVID complications. Kimball also said more hospital staff have tested positive recently, straining the hospital workforce.

“We’re working through it and still safely providing care, but it’s a smaller staff working more hours,” Kimball said.

He also said this week it has become more difficult to arrange transfers of patients to other area hospitals as needed because those hospitals are filling up, too.