The director of Tarrant County Public Health has a stark warning about the Omicron-fueled surge in COVID-19 activity.
"Unfortunately, the news is not good," Vinny Taneja told the Tarrant County Commissioners Court. "We're sky-high with COVID issues."
Amid the rapid spread of the virus, people throughout the state have been flocking to testing sites, in many cases waiting in their cars for hours.
And a great many of those tests are coming back positive.
"Four in 10 people that we're testing are coming back positive," Taneja told the Commissioners Court. "And as you know, people are getting tested by the thousands."
Taneja said the spread rate is higher than it's ever been in the nearly two-year-long pandemic.
"One person getting ill is infecting 2.1 other people," Taneja said. "So that's why there's a rapid spread of COVID in our community."
How rapid of a spread?
"We're at 1,089 per 100,000 (Tarrant County residents infected with COVID last week)," says Taneja. "That's a pandemic high. That means 1% of the population of Tarrant County came down ill with COVID, just in that week. That's a significant number. You're talking ... 24,000 people coming down ill in just a matter of one week."
On a related note, hospital intensive care units are rapidly filling up.
"We have 190 people in the ICU," Taneja says. "That's about 45% of our ICU capacity in Tarrant County."
Taneja strongly urged people to take all the usual precautions - wear a mask and avoid large crowds.
He analogized it to dressing for the weather.
"The weather was super nice around Christmas; and then suddenly, we had a cold snap," says Taneja. "Well, did we all decide we're going to run around in T-shirts and shorts like nothing has changed? No. We put on our jackets, we put our sweatshirts on (and) had a hat on. Some people put on their gloves. We layered our protection.
"Okay, well, there's a COVID surge on," Taneja continued. "Let's layer our protections. Do all of these things together while the surge is on; and when the surge declines, you can take off some layers of protection."
Taneja also urged people to get their booster shots, expressing disbelief that the demand for boosters hasn't nearly been as high as that of the original two doses.
"320,000 people (who live in Tarrant County) have received their booster," Taneja says. "That leaves us about 900,000 people that we know are eligible. And my message is: you were motivated to get the two doses, let's get the job done."
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