Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have dropped from their peak in mid-January, but health officials are urging people not to attend Super Bowl parties this weekend. Hospitalizations peaked in the middle of January, several weeks after Christmas and New Year's.
"Doctors advise that we should all watch the Super Bowl this weekend with the people that we live with and not at Super Bowl parties. The decisions we make today will have a big impact on the number of new cases ten days to two weeks from now and the number of deaths a month from now," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins wrote in a statement.
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Thursday, the Department of State Health Services said hospitals in the 19 county area around North Texas had 2,911 COVID-19 patients using 17.15% of capacity. When numbers peaked January 14, hospitals had 4,104 patients using 25.04% of capacity.
"That's one of the key things to remember: We did see a spike after Thanksgiving. We saw another spike after the holidays, whenever you have those mass gatherings," says Patty Olinger, executive director of the Global Biorisk Advisory Council.
Olinger says methods to slow the spread have become clear.
"We know how to protect ourselves from a standpoint of wearing a mask, washing our hands, using hand sanitizer and watching our distance from each other," Olinger says. "We know those are the key elements. The concern comes in when we do mass gatherings that we might sometimes forget about those messages."
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GBAC has worked with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which is hosting the Super Bowl at Raymond James Stadium, and Dallas Cowboys to ensure limited crowds in both locations would be safe this season.
"What they're putting in place is programs that look at infection prevention, cleaning and disinfection practices," Olinger says. "They put those reminders and procedures in place for wearing a mask. They make it easier to wash your hands and put out hand sanitizer. They take it very seriously."
But Olinger says people gathering at restaurants or bars could increase the spread of the virus. She says people who don't know each other would be passing each other on the way to the restroom; they may also be high-fiving each other or taking off their mask to cheer.
"Those are risk factors you need to take into consideration and maybe not go out to a restaurant or even a friend's party because that puts you at higher risk," she says. "You're never sure what their immediate circle is. If you're going out in public, the CDC guideline is 'Don't cheer.' That's going to be really tough for folks."
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