Is the COVID-19 pandemic finally nearing its end?
El Paso, Texas — Today's question: "Is the COVID-19 pandemic finally nearing its end?" The short answer is no.
The Borderland is in a much better place than it was just a couple of months ago when about 500 covid patients were hospitalized in El Paso and we were seeing more than 1,000 new infections on a daily basis.
On Tuesday, the El Paso Public Health Department reported only 6 new cases locally and fewer than 50 coronavirus patients were hospitalized.
The county's positivity rate has also dropped below 5%, which indicates the virus's transmission rate is under control locally.
But the Borderland saw similarly low numbers last summer before the emergence of new mutations like the Omicron variant and now, BA.2.
China is dealing with a new outbreak of COVID-19 cases that's led to lockdowns in cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen.
A number of European nations are also seeing a new surge in infections caused by the BA.2 subvariant.
But it also appears that the new wave of covid infections is far less severe and deadly than prior surges because enough people have improved their immunity to the coronavirus, either through previous exposure, vaccinations, or a combination of the two.
It may mean we're moving from the pandemic stage of COVID-19 to the endemic stage. That would mean, while the virus will still be with us, it's spread will be a lot more predictable and far less deadly because the human immune system will have adapted to it on a global scale.