COVID Hospitalizations Dip For One Day Ahead of Projected Peak
COVID hospitalizations in North Texas dropped by 49 between Thursday and Friday, but health experts warn it’s too early to tell if a downward trend will continue.
UT Southwestern Medical Center predicts a peak in the omicron-driven surge in cases later this month.
As of Friday, 4,122 people were hospitalized due to COVID, according to the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council, as reported by the Dallas Morning News. Just 24 hours before, the council reported 4,171 COVID-related hospitalizations, which was just shy of reaching January 2021’s record-breaking 4,172 hospitalizations.
Despite the downward trend, hospitalization projections are in flux. They may surpass the January 2021 peak, but it’s difficult to predict right now, Steve Love, president and CEO of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council, told the newspaper.
“Monday and Tuesday will probably be the real indicator,” Love told the DMN. “We might stabilize and begin a decreasing trend by next weekend. We hope we do not surpass that peak.”
Read more from the Dallas Morning News here.
The latest forecast from UT Southwestern Medical Center projects Dallas County’s omicron variant peak will be before the end of January above roughly 8,000 new COVID-19 infections per day. It’s a reduction from earlier projections because of slowing growth in hospitalizations and other factors. Read UTSW’s latest forecast here.
In other news:
- Data from a new Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) dashboard showed unvaccinated Texans are 16 times more likely to die from a COVID-associated illness and twice as likely to test positive for COVID-19. View the dashboard here.
- The Biden administration last week announced plans to distribute 400 million N95 masks to Americans for free via a number of local pharmacies and community health centers. Read more from CNN here.
