When will COVID-19 start to fade away? Experts say Houston is in the midst of another surge

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- COVID-19 cases are on the rise again across the state and experts say we are in the midst of another surge here in Houston.

"We clearly are having a major surge. Now what's different is though the hospitalizations have come up, they haven't shot up like they did in the prior surges," said Dr. James McDeavitt, executive Vice President and Dean of Clinical Affairs at the Baylor College of Medicine.

With more people testing at home or not testing at all, Dr. McDeavitt says looking at the amount of COVID in the wastewater and the number of hospitalizations is the best indicator of how much it's being passed around.

"The wastewater right now, the COVID is just as bad as it was late August, early September, which was a major surge. It is not quite as bad as the omicron surge in early January," McDeavitt explained.

COVID concern has become less for a lot of people, but one question we would all like to know the answer to: When will this virus finally be just another sickness we have to deal with?

"I can't predict exactly when that's going to occur. I think we are probably a surge or two away from that happening. Perhaps as we get through this winter, I think it's going to be fully baked into sort of our background psyche...It's going to be with us forever. I think we are within probably weeks to months of having it just in the background like all of the other infectious diseases we always have to deal with," McDeavitt said.

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