CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — We're hearing from county and city leaders about the potential impact of the omicron variant in the Coastal Bend.
During a meeting last night, they said so far in December there are 1,070 COVID-19 cases in Nueces County. That already surpasses November's count.
Right now, 53.7 percent of those cases involve people who are fully vaccinated.
Our health leaders also say, so far, there are no omicron cases in Nueces County, but that it's just a matter of time.
“Omicron is more contagious, it is much more contagious,” said Dr. Christopher Bird, a Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi associate professor. “The estimates I’ve seen show it two to five times more (contagious) which puts it more contagious than measles."
Bird adds that he thinks omicron will not have a severe impact on hospitalizations.