WACO, Texas — COVID-19 is still active in Central Texas communities, but is spreading much slower than we have seen for a while.
"COVID is always going to be with us," Mary Parrish with the Brazos County Health Department told 25 News. "It's just one of those deals like the flu that we're going to see spikes throughout the years and we do need to be mindful of it."
The state is currently seeing a low point in those spikes, with only 709 cases of COVID-19 reported on Monday. That number down from more than 61,000 three months ago.
Vaidehi Shah with McLennan County's Health District credits that omicron surge for the current low numbers.
"Omicron was so contagious that it went through the entire vulnerable population, it didn't have any hosts to infect anymore," she said.
More people are now also vaccinated against the virus than ever before, adding that extra level of protection for our communities.
"We have a higher population that is immune or protected against omicron," Shah said. "So once again it did not have a host that it could infect."
Over the last two years COVID has come in waves, mirroring patterns from Europe. Many of those countries are now seeing an increase again, which could mean more cases are coming our way at some point.
"If you're not vaccinated, get vaccinated. If you're not boosted and you're eligible to get boosted, get boosted. That's the only way we'll be able to reach some kind of normal," Shah said.
