AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Public Health (APH) said it's seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases.
The chief of Travis County epidemiology, Janet Pichette, said it's no surprise, considering this has happened at the start of every school year since the pandemic began.
Pichette said as of last week, there's been a 33% increase in COVID-19 cases when looking at the number of electronic laboratory reports compared to the week before. Keep in mind, that number is likely higher because people may not be testing, or if they do, they don't report their results.
Regarding hospitalizations, the department said they are increasing a bit, but nothing alarming. Pichette said APH is currently seeing clusters in long-term care facilities, schools and day cares.
She said many confuse the symptoms for allergies or the flu and people may confuse COVID-19 symptoms with allergies.
"A lot of people often think that some of the symptomology is similar to either allergies or something like that," Pichette said. "My advice is if you think that you have like, those types of COVID-like symptoms – runny nose, cough congestion, sore throat, fever, headache – you should consider testing yourself for COVID because it's very possible that you have COVID."
Some school districts are still tracking cases. Austin ISD's dashboard shows since the school year started on Aug. 14, it's had 230 reported cases.
During a Hays CISD board meeting this week, leaders addressed rumors about a new mask mandate, saying it's not happening.
"Now COVID is just a part of the other communicable diseases such as the flu and RSV, and we treat it just the same," Hays CISD Superintendent Dr. Eric Wright said.
Dr. Elinor Pisano, pediatric hospitalist at St. David's Children's Hospital, said she's not seeing signs of a "tripledemic" right now.
"I'm so happy to say, no, we have not been seeing that," Pisano said. "So, what you're referring to is last year, in the late summer, we saw an unprecedented surge in patients, right, where everybody was coming in, RSV, flu, COVID, all at the same time."
Pichette said if you test positive for COVID-19, stay home for five days and wear a mask in public for five more days. If you are worried about getting sick, make sure you are washing your hands often. The FDA is expected to clear a new COVID-19 booster next month.
How COVID-19 testing data works
Pichette said APH tests the wastewater, which shows the viral load in the community. The department also gets results from cases when looking at the number of electronic laboratory reports.