Adult COVID-19 hospitalizations in Dallas County expected to drop soon thanks to masks, vaccines

Experts say COVID-19 hospitalizations in Dallas County could drop soon

Despite the surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations, there is cautious optimism among doctors.

DALLAS - Area hospitals are overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients right now but there is some indication that the crisis could be easing soon.

The latest outlook is sorta mixed. Hospitals are still at capacity and the strain on doctors, nurses and other medical professionals is still very much there.

But the forecast models from UT Southwestern indicate Dallas County’s peak for new COVID-19 cases could occur in two weeks, followed by a drop in hospitalizations.

The improvement is being attributed to an increase in public mask wearing and vaccines.

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However, doctors and data scientists remain worried about children. That’s the one age group where things are not expected to plateau.

The DFW Hospital Council said the number of kids hospitalized with COVID-19 has almost tripled in a month. It’s at an all-time high.

"We were all quite nervous as to what the school year would bring and we are seeing that play out right now," said Dr. Devils Rao, a pediatric pulmonologist at UT Southwestern.

Dr. Beth Kassanoff-Piper, the president of the Dallas County Medical Society, said there’s absolutely no evidence of things leveling off for kids.

"We’ve got to be doing something different, got to make some changes," she said. "If something doesn’t change, then I do think we will have a problem. More schools are going to close. Kids will be out of school."

The other area where overall COVID-19 hospitalizations is not yet reaching a plateau is Tarrant County. Experts attribute that to fewer mitigation efforts there.

The message from doctors and others on the front lines of the pandemic is that those measures like masks and vaccines work and they are still very much needed.

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