If a lot of people you know have tested positive for COVID-19 recently, you’re not alone.
While a lack of access to testing compared to earlier in the pandemic makes it hard to know exactly how many cases are popping up, the CDC does track viral COVID activity in wastewater. This metric shows that COVID activity levels are high in a number of states, including Texas.
Dr. Catherine Troisi, a professor at the School of Public Health at UT Health Houston, said the majority of newer cases are the Omicron subvariants known as FLiRT variants.
“As people may remember, the COVID virus changes pretty rapidly. We’ve seen a lot of different variants, a lot of different names,” she said. “It appears that these FLiRT variants, there’s a couple of them, are more transmissible. That is one an infected person can transmit the virus to somebody else so that they get infected easier than with previous [variants]. Luckily, we have not seen any indications that these variants cause more severe disease.”
Troisi said while the respiratory symptoms of the new variants are similar to previous versions of the virus, there are also other symptoms associated, including an upset stomach.
“There’s just a whole host of symptoms that make it hard to tell whether you have COVID or some other virus, allergies, you know, all those things that can affect your respiratory symptoms,” she said. “That’s why it’s important to get tested, to know for sure whether you have COVID or not.”
Troisi said it also might be time to replace long-expired at-home COVID tests.
“Because the emergency declaration for COVID has expired, and the public health emergency, they’re no longer covered [by insurance], so you do have to pay for them,” she said. “Which in some cases might be a disincentive to getting tested, unfortunately.”
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There is also concern among experts about how the virus might spread as kids go back to school in a few weeks.
“We are concerned again, just like every August and September since the pandemic started. We know the virus transmits easier when people are close together,” Troisi said. “You can protect yourself in the same ways that we’ve been saying all along.
“Get vaccinated if you haven’t been. If you are in a crowded condition and you’re worried about getting infected, you’re older, you have an underlying condition so that if you do get infected, that the chances that the infection will be more severe are higher, or you live with someone in that category, then mask up. We know that masks do a good job — they’re not perfect, but they do prevent or help reduce the chances of infection.
“Wash your hands. … Do outdoor gatherings, which is hard in Texas, I get it. It’s hot and humid in Houston. But, you know, the virus spreads easier when people are close together and not wearing masks.”
If you are unsure whether you are due for a booster vaccine for COVID-19, Troisi recommended checking in with your healthcare provider.
“The recommendation that CDC gave back in February was that people at higher risk against older underlying medical conditions should get another dose of the vaccine besides the one they should have gotten last fall,” she said. “We’re so close to the vaccine, the new updated vaccines being released. The estimates are August or September.”
