COVID cases slowly increasing in Texarkana; Surge expected in coming weeks

TEXARKANA, Texas -- With the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 running rampant through some regions of the United States, medical professionals in the Texarkana region say it is on its way here.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there were just over 53,000 new cases reported in the United States on Nov. 28, 2021 and more than 486,000 new cases reported on Dec. 29. Between the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and the end of last year, the rise has been steady.

While this nationwide increase is largely due to the emergence of Omicron, Dr. Loren Robinson, chief medical officer for the CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System, said the Texarkana region hasn't experienced the same circumstances. However, she is expecting a surge in our region within the next few weeks.

"A lot of this stuff with Omicron started in the Northeast, and it's moving down southward," Robinson said. "So, we haven't yet been negatively impacted by a huge surge in terms of the numbers that we saw in our surge of January of 2021 or in the surge of late summer/early fall of 2021. That said, I think that's because it hasn't gotten here yet.

"From the beginning of December (2021) to the beginning of January (2022), we have seen our COVID numbers slowly increase."

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Bowie County has seen an increase of 346 confirmed COVID cases from Nov. 28 to Dec. 30 compared to only a 55 confirmed case increase from Oct. 26 to Nov. 27. Bowie County was reported as having 381 active cases as of Dec. 30.

For Miller County in Arkansas, the average daily cases has increased from 6.3 on Nov. 28 to 20.6 on Jan. 2 – according to Mayoclinic.org. Miller County was reported to have 172 active cases as of Jan. 2, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.

"I don't think we have much Omicron here yet, but I do think that will be changing on the heels of the holidays, with a lot of people traveling and such," Robinsons said. "The slow increase that we're currently seeing is still the residual Delta variant that was already in our community.

"And the reason I say that is because it's been such a slow increase. Omicron is much more contagious and you get sicker quicker, so you'd expect your numbers to go up much faster from it."

The Flu season has made diagnosing symptoms a tough task for some. Robinson said a lot of the symptoms between COVID/Omicron and the Flu are similar, except for the loss of smell and taste that can come with COVID.

Due to lower vaccination rates in Texas and Arkansas, there is some concern for a high number of hospitalizations as Omicron makes its way through the South. Texas is 30th among U.S. states in full vaccination rates (57%), while Arkansas is 45th (51.2%) – according to ourworldindata.org.

Intensive care units in hospitals like CHRISTUS St. Michael and Wadley Regional Medical Center, however, are not near full capacity at the moment.

Robinson urges Texarkana citizens to get vaccinated and/or boosted and to avoid gathering in groups larger than 10 people, if possible. She said the vast majority of hospitalizations CHRISTUS sees includes unvaccinated individuals.

"If someone is vaccinated and gets COVID, it may feel like a cold and they maybe won't have to even go to the doctor or hospital," she said. "But someone who is unvaccinated, they could get much sicker from it. Those are the things that would cause surges at our hospitals is that you'd have more unvaccinated people end up coming to the hospital.

"I think folks were all so ready for this to be over and for life to be normal again, so we planned outings, days of services or retreats with our churches. I think the challenge is that now is probably not the time for that."

(To learn more about COVID and its effects in the surrounding regions, visit www.healthy.arkansas.gov or dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus.)

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