Lee esta historia en español“It’s been step by step taking place during the last two or three weeks,” Desmar Walkes, Austin’s Public Well being Authority, mentioned in a dispiriting video name final week.Austin is seeing a slight uptick in COVID-related emergency room visits and hospitalizations. Statewide instances have been step by step ticking up, too.And from anecdotal expertise, it appears everyone seems to be catching one thing this summer time. An r/Austin Reddit put up about COVID going round garnered tons of from feedback from locals with sniffles and scratchy throats. Austinite Samantha Keele acquired COVID for the third time final weekend. “Felt like allergy symptoms on steroids and the fatigue was wild,” she mentioned in an e-mail. It hit near dwelling after I arrived at KUT’s workplace at some point and two desks sat empty — coworkers had been out recovering.However, are we positive COVID is guilty for the flu-like signs going round?
Michael Minasi
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KUT NewsAt-home testing has made it tough to evaluate unfold locally.
Austin stopped reporting COVID-19 instances in March, and at-home testing has made it tough to color an correct image of how prevalent the virus is in our neighborhood. Past anecdotes and knowledge from emergency room visits, it’s onerous to inform if what is going on round at massive is COVID, the widespread chilly or respiratory troubles from the Saharan mud that is made its option to Austin.Walkes mentioned it is this — individuals assuming they’ve one thing aside from COVID — that could possibly be contributing to the uptick in emergency room visits.“Folks [assume] that it’s perhaps allergy symptoms or a chilly after which they go to a gathering to be with family and friends and it spreads,” she mentioned.Walkes mentioned these summer time gatherings are sometimes indoors, away from the warmth, in air conditioned rooms with poor air flow.So, what do you do for those who’re not feeling properly?Walkes recommends carrying a masks and social distancing in case you have flu-like signs and taking a take a look at even for those who suppose it is simply allergy symptoms. She additionally recommends staying updated on booster photographs, which suggests receiving the up to date COVID vaccine when it is launched later this yr.When you get a constructive take a look at, keep dwelling and take it straightforward. The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention pointers say you possibly can return to regular actions when your signs have improved and you’ve got gone with no fever (with out utilizing fever-reducing medicine) for twenty-four hours. After that, the CDC recommends taking added precaution over the subsequent 5 days, comparable to masking and social distancing, as you continue to could be contagious. Lucciana Choueiry contributed to this report.