As Laredo celebrates on Christmas weekend, there are some concerns regarding the increased spread of COVID-19 around the country due to the omicron variant. And in the Gateway City, cases have started to climb as a possible indicator of the beginning of the fourth wave.
The City of Laredo and Webb County reported via an online dashboard the city currently has 53,813 positive cases and 983 deaths historically since the emergence of the pandemic in March 2020.
The data — last updated on Thursday — brings Laredo to 181 new positive cases and one COVID-related death that were reported this week.
This is a definite increase from previous weeks — the highest single-week total of new cases since Oct. 9-15. Last week featured 132 cases and the week before was at 74. Prior to last week, each of the previous seven weeks had been at 100 or fewer cases.
In the previous time period between the second and third waves in Laredo, cases also dipped under 100 positives for seven consecutive weeks before jumping up to 135 on June 26-July 2, dropping down to 107 on July 3-9 and then up to 176 on July 17-23. The next two weeks saw cases nearly double in both weeks.
The city has not yet confirmed any cases of the omicron variant, although it’s likely arrived due to it being announced as the dominant variant in the U.S. this week. Laredo did acquire an Ion Torrent Genexus Integrated Sequencer, a New Generation Sequencer that will help detect new variants and mutations in viruses like SARS-CoV-2. This will help the area identify variants quickly instead of sending them to labs out of the city to be tested, but the technology will not be ready until January.
Active cases have started to climb with these increases. The city now is above 200 once again, jumping up to 203 as of Thursday’s latest data. This is the highest total since Oct. 15.
This means Laredo is up to Level 3, or “Orange,” of its own color-coded advisory system. This is defined as between 150-249 positive cases, stating there is a “substantial risk” of locals contracting the virus while in public. Laredo had been at Level 2, or “medium risk,” since Nov. 3 prior to this update.
COVID-19 Metrics
Positives: 53,813
Deaths: 983
Hospitalizations: 17
ICU: 11
Fully Vaccinated: 88.8%
Recoveries: 52,627
Total Tested: 458,568
7-Day Positive Rate: 5.6%
Source: Laredo Health Dept.
Laredo’s rolling seven-day positivity rate is currently 5.6% — up from 4.1% last week. Texas’ rolling positivity rate is 13.7% while the United States’ is at 10.3%.
Hospitalizations rose a bit jumping from 15 to 17 — the same total they were at on Dec. 7 but nearly double the nine they had on Nov. 24. Of those patients, 11 are in the ICU. That’s also up from the seven last week but equal to the report from Dec. 7.
The city announced there have been 1,847 total breakthrough cases — a person with a positive case who was fully vaccinated — with 105 of those individuals being hospitalized and 22 dying. The city’s first major public vaccine drive happened on Jan. 2 at TAMIU. Since then, there have been 24,933 cases and 452 deaths locally from individuals who were not fully vaccinated.
Laredo’s COVID-19 hospitalization rate has risen this week up to 3.4%, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services’ most recent data from Wednesday. That’s up from 2.7% four days ago.
Laredo’s current rate puts the area at No. 9 out of the state’s 22 medical regions, putting it in the top half of the state. The lowest figures belong to San Angelo (1.5%) and Victoria (2.1%) while the highest are Amarillo (18.5%), El Paso (17.8%) and Lubbock (11.9%).
Laredo’s hospital capacity issues that have plagued it the entire pandemic remain as the city — despite its COVID success — has only 11 available beds as of Wednesday with no other state hospital regions below triple digits. Meanwhile, the area also has only two available ICU beds.
As Laredo is medically underserved and with facilities understaffed, its hospital capacity has been diminished despite being nowhere near its previous high in hospitalizations of 249 in January when it was receiving help from the state. But state assistance is not enough to make a big dent in Laredo’s hospital capacity, which is why local experts continue to tout being vaccinated as vital, even despite the area’s success in that regard, as its current lack of resources has curtailed that success.
The City of Laredo stated that about 88.8% of the total eligible population has been fully vaccinated. This figure is a bit lower than around a month ago as the population between ages 5-11 started to be included instead of just above age 12. The dashboard does not provide the exact number of individuals who are fully vaccinated or the totals for those partially vaccinated. As for its elderly, the city reports that 92.7% of people age 65 and up are fully vaccinated.
Laredo officials have stated that its eligible population figures are based off U.S. Census data, and due to the city’s past of having its population undercounted, a true 100% figure may be more difficult to identify.
Over the course of the pandemic, 458,568 tests have been administered. An estimated 52,627 people have recovered from a previous infection.