Just days before Christmas, it was announced that there will soon be two drugs on the market to help people fight COVID-19 at home.
Pfizer’s antiviral pill, which was approved on Wednesday, Dec. 23, and now a new medication from Merck for adults at risk for severe disease.
Across Houston, there are lines of people wrapped around buildings and parking lots waiting to get tested for COVID-19.
Nurse practitioner Shepherd from Entrust Immediate Care said most people tell her they have a known exposure or symptoms.
“I’m tired. I went to New York and I helped out in New York before everything was happening here and when I came back from New York it was just a madhouse. So, I went straight to work. The longest I worked was 28 days in a row,” She said. “I’m tired, but this is what I signed up for when I went into healthcare.”
She said the pandemic fatigue is the reason people need tests, as they’ve been taking more risks and it’s leading to positive cases.
“We saw 659 patients. We had 173 positives out of those,” Shepherd said.
Across 25 counties in southeast Texas, hospitalizations are trending up. There are 794 COVID hospitalizations and 49 children were admitted to the hospital.
Shepherd’s message for the holiday is to be safe.