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The Amarillo Department of Public Health is urging more people to get vaccinated as the region continues to see an increase in respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19 and influenza, with nearly 1,800 cases of COVID-19 active and about 1,700 cases of flu-related illness reported this week.
More:Amarillo hospitals seeing concerning rise in respiratory patients
Free vaccines and boosters are available at the Amarillo Public Health Department and Amarillo Public Health mobile clinics. The vaccines and boosters will not be free in the near future, so Amarillo Public Health encourages residents to take advantage of this opportunity now. Those who have received a COVID-19 vaccine or booster more than two months ago are eligible for the new booster, which provides additional protection from the original virus and the Omicron variant.
Flu update
As the Texas Panhandle region is seeing an increase in respiratory illnesses, the health department has also shared its weekly flu report, which is created by all the local providers who voluntarily report influenza to Amarillo Public Health Department in Potter and Randall Counties.
Previous weekly flu reports can be found on the health department’s website. Data is categorized by week, from Oct. 16 through Dec. 19. The week of Dec. 5 had a total of 2,129 flu and flu-like cases of illness reported.
For the week of Dec. 19, there were 831 cases of influenza A, six cases of influenza B and 822 cases of flu-like illness, according to the flu report card.
With 76 cases classified as “undifferentiated,” the weekly total was 1,735.
COVID-19 update
In the department’s weekly COVID-19 update, 1,783 cases were considered active, with no new deaths and an increase of 454 new COVID-19 cases.
According to the report card, the 454 new COVID-19 cases amount to a seven-day, new-case average of 65, with a seven-day positivity rate of 14%.
That brings the total number of cases in Potter and Randall counties to 86,605 and the total number of deaths to 1,314 since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, according to the report card. As posted on the APHD’s site, a total 82,242 recoveries have been reported for the area.
Potter County’s total cases since the start of the pandemic rose to 41,300, with 830 active, 39,694 recoveries and 776 deaths related to the virus.
Randall County’s total COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic rose to 43,992, with 906 active, 42,548 recoveries and 538 deaths related to the virus.
The report card contains the latest data from BSA Health System, Northwest Texas Healthcare System, and Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center.
The Amarillo Public Health COVID-19 Hospitalization report, also being released weekly, noted 28 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, 64% of whom were unvaccinated. Of those, five patients were in the ICU, with four on ventilators, all of whom were unvaccinated.
By the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) standards, Randall and Potter County’s community levels of COVID-19 were medium, or yellow this week, noting the following: “If you are at high risk for severe illness, talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to wear a mask and take other precautions. Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, and get tested if you have symptoms.”
For additional tips for staying safe this winter and the most up to date COVID-19 information, visit www.AmarilloAlerts.com. Weekly flu reports can be found at www.amarillopublichealth.org .
The city of Amarillo Public Health Department, located at 850 Martin Road, offers the new COVID bivalent booster and COVID-19 vaccines for everyone aged 5 and older. They also offer other adult and children’s vaccines to those that qualify. Learn more at www.AmarilloAlerts.com/findavaccine.
For the complete report of all Amarillo Public Health COVID-19 data, visit amarillo.gov/coviddashboard .
Editor’s note: Some of the numbers surrounding COVID-19 cases listed in this story are different on the weekly report card, vs. the APHD website. According to the public health department, readers can check the website for the latest updates and totals.
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