SAN ANTONIO — New numbers from Metro Health show a slow, but steady spike in COVID cases in Bexar County.
Health experts say the summer surge is starting now, right as the school year begins.
As KENS 5 learned, the timing of our annual summer surge isn't like last year's.
When classes started in 2022, COVID numbers in Bexar County were on the decline. In 2023, it's the other way around.
"If there's more COVID in the community, it's certainly a possibility that we'll see an increased number of COVID cases amongst kids as well," said Dr. Jason Bowling, professor and Infectious Disease Specialist at UT Health San Antonio and Chief Epidemiologist at University Health.
University Health reports 7% of people within their system who are sick with COVID-19 are school-aged children.
"This is still an omicron subvariant which has been circulating for some time now," said Bowling. "The symptoms that it's causing are not significantly different. People are not having more severe illness."
Two of San Antonio's largest school districts, NEISD and SAISD went back to school this week.
Medical experts say since COVID has an incubation period, they anticipate more cases to pop up starting next week.
"We're seeing an increase now this year that coincides with when school is starting," said Bowling. "That timing does raise a little bit of potential concern that we might see an additional bump from people getting back together for school. So we'll have to watch that very closely."
Dr. Bowling says if your child has cold symptoms, get them checked for COVID right away.
"Testing them, not taking them to school until you get that sorted out is going to be the best way to prevent other kids at the school from getting sick," he explained.
As of Tuesday, Bexar County saw 1,612 new COVID cases over seven days. That's up nearly 385 from the previous week.
Medical experts recommend waiting for your updated booster, which is set to come out in late September, early October.
"Most people are just going to need one shot. They're really trying to simplify the vaccine process so it's not as confusing for people," said Bowling. "They really want people to get this updated shot so they get the best protection from what's circulating now."
For those with underlying medical conditions, experts say you may want to start wearing a mask again.
"Their immune system is compromised, they have lung disease, medical conditions that put them at higher risk for severe COVID, they may need to think about wearing a well-fitted, high-quality mask if they're in public settings," Bowling added.
Although we are seeing an uptick in COVID cases, fortunately, most are not ending up in the hospital.
The vaccine experts recommend you get now is your flu shot.