KILLEEN, TX — Health officials are stressing the importance of staying vigilant with responsible COVID-19 practices as cases are back on the rise in Central Texas.
It’s been nearly eight months of wearing a mask and hearing the phrase 'stay home if you can,' but becoming relaxed to the virus may be the worse thing you can do, officials said.
A lot of us are fatigued when it comes to COVID-19, and health officials acknowledge that.
"That’s a normal part of the process," said Kelly Craine, the communications lead for the Waco, McLennan County Public Health District. "So, we’ve kind of had that lax and so now let’s tighten up, let’s really stay on guard ”
Some residents agreed with Craine, arguing the virus is only going to get worse as the days grow cold.
"It still should be taken seriously and not lightly," Altia David said. "Number one, winter is coming back and they said that's when it really starts to reproduce itself. So wearing a mask is really important.”
While others, like Amanda Chambers, believe the opposite.
”So, COVID's not killing this country, our response to it is," Chambers said. "If we treated it like we treated every flu season, of ‘hey wash your hands, stay home if you're sick,' that’s what we do, that’s how we handle germs.”
But as major counties see huge spikes in COVID cases over the past few days, Craine said part of the reason is because the public is becoming too comfortable.
"COVID fatigue is real and it’s important to acknowledge that," Craine said.
But at the same time we should "recognize that, even though we never do this, we never put ourselves first, remember to take some time to rest.”