For over a month now, Lubbock’s spike in coronavirus cases has largely been concentrated in people under 30. But as many have feared, that is starting to change.
During Thursday’s press conference the city’s Director of Public Health, Katherine Wells, was asked a pointed question: Can we assume that we have now seen those young adults spread it to their family members?
Her response was, “yes we have.”
Of the 3,376 COVID cases in Lubbock, 1268 of those are people in their 20s. Over the past two weeks however, cases in people over 30 have started to creep up. According to local health authority, Dr. Ron Cook, even with the mandates imposed by the state, it’s going to take some time for the numbers to fall.
Cook estimates it will take two to three weeks before we see case numbers decrease, only after maintaining social distancing and wearing masks. “In the meantime they may continue to increase,” he says.
When a person is confirmed to have COVID-19, contact tracers try to complete an investigation within 24 hours. What they’ve found is that most virus transmissions are happening either in the workplace or at home. Wells says, “So, when you return home, you’re likely to infect those people who are in your household.”
Just this week the city confirmed 550 positive COVID cases, with a positivity rate averaging a little under 15 percent in the last two weeks.
According to Dr. Cook, the virus has a few characteristics we’ve never really seen. First, there’s asymptomatic carriers. Second, usually with other viruses, you’re most contagious when you show symptoms. That’s not the case here.
Cook says that with this particular virus, something we’ve never really seen before is the ability to infect others before you start experiencing symptoms.
A few conspiracy theories popped up on social media saying people tested for COVID are actually being infected. They come in without symptoms and then next day show symptoms of the virus. But there’s a less sinister explanation for that occurrence according to Wells.
“I think they get tested because of an exposure and then they become symptomatic after a day or two.”
Father’s Day and Fourth of July celebrations may have contributed to the viral spread. City officials are hopeful that the closing of bars in town will help limit exposure for the younger crowd. Mayor Dan Pope says we have to wait about two weeks to see.
“It’s a little early to judge whether the bar closure has had an impact,” he says, while echoing Cook’s estimate that we’ll begin to see results within two or three weeks. “We don’t want to call it a victory on that yet, but maybe the trends going the right direction.”
