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Texas emergency rooms have seen a sharp increase in cases of COVID-19 since kids returned to school in early August. ER visits for COVID surged by nearly 30% in the week ending on August 23, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).
The Centers for Disease Control also reported a 'Very High' level of the virus that causes COVID in wastewater collected from surveillance sites in Texas during that week. Nationally, the wastewater viral activity level for COVID-19 is currently moderate.
Children congregating in classrooms is not the only thing fueling this increase in numbers in Texas. There is a new dominant strain circulating in the U.S. called XFG, also known as Stratus. The CDC estimated that Stratus was responsible for 78% of the nation's reported COVID cases during the week ending August 30th.
DSHS has reported that 3,778 people showed up in Texas ERs with COVID during the third week of August—and 674 of those people were in the public health region that includes San Antonio.
Other respiratory illnesses tracked by DSHS have also seen increases in the weeks since school started. There were 469 people who went to the ER with influenza, which was a bump of nearly 20% over the week before, and ER visits for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) surged by more than 40%. While that's a big percentage, it's a small number.
RSV visits to the emergency room are still in the single digits.
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