CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Within week one of the New Year, variant COVID-19 hit the Lone Star State and made its way to Harris County in a short amount of time. Over 50 Americans have tested positive for the new strain.
"This new variant is 70 times more transmissible," pulmonologist Dr. Salim Surani said.
Dr. Surani said given how contagious this variant of the virus means not if, but when the Coastal Bend can expect to see the first case.
"The question is not whether we're going to see it or not, we are going to see it," Dr. Surani added.
Public Health Director Annette Rodriguez said the city and county are prepared for another wave of COVID-19, starting with the hospitalizations.
She said just like we saw in the summer, the state will assist with hospital beds and ventilators.
"We give them specific requests, it goes through the system, to the state, then the state operations center, they look at all the requests and then they look at all the resources and they work as quickly as they can to try to fill those," Rodriguez said.
Experts said there is a silver lining when it comes to the new variant COVID-19 strain, and there is a defense against it. The vaccines are effective against these new strains.
Health officials believe the new strain could be a massive threat to the Coastal Bend, but only if the community allows it by socializing in large crowds or not wearing a mask in public.
RELATED: More contagious variant of COVID-19 first seen in UK confirmed in Harris County; first case in Texas
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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