Medical experts 'cautiously optimistic' in fight against Houston COVID-19 cases

Some medical experts see optimism in fight against COVID-19 in Houston

FOX 26's Matthew Seedorff spoke with some medical experts who are showing some optimism in the fight against COVID-19 in Houston.

HOUSTON - Some medical experts are “cautiously optimistic” regarding the fight against Coronavirus COVID-19 in Houston.

“We’re still very busy,” said Dr. Jamie McCarthy Chief Physician for Memorial Hermann Health System. “[There are] lots of COVID positive patients in our ICUs and our floors, but we are seeing a slight decline in the total numbers.”

Texas Medical Center hospitals do seem to be moving in the right direction. According to their website, they’ve noticed a decrease in new hospitalization numbers several days straight.

“We were going up very steeply,” said Dr. Marc Boom, CEO for Houston Methodist. “Each and every day, we had huge numbers of patients coming in. Thankfully, that curve bent. If we had continued at that rate, the world would be a very different place right now.”

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“I’m cautiously optimistic that we are flattening and that conditions we’ll continue to improve,” said Dr. McCarthy.
While hospitalizations slowly drop for COVID-19 patients in Houston, the number of people sick with the Coronavirus continues to climb inside area ICU rooms.

“It’s kind of a what I call a lagging indicator,” said Dr. Boom. “I expect we will see some continued uptick in ICU use a little while longer, assuming again that the cases in the community continue to go down.”

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Medical professionals continue to report younger Coronavirus patients compared to the spring. However, they’ve also noticed a lower death rate, as doctors and nurses continue their treatment methods.

“We’re still in a very precarious situation that can go either direction,” said Dr. Boom.

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According to Dr. McCarthy, the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 in Houston has recently dropped from roughly 25%, to now about 20%.

“I am super nervous and worried that people will relax the social distancing that we are seeing and they will try to just open up and do everything again,” said Dr. McCarthy. “We still have way too much COVID in our community for that to happen.”