ABC13 spoke to Anthony Williams, who tested positive and is now recovering from the variant.
“I just couldn’t breathe. I felt so horrible that I didn’t know that if I closed my eyes I would wake up the next day,” said Williams. “A combination of fear and just trying to be proactive. Something said, ‘Just get up and go to the emergency room.’
Williams is a pastor, teacher and veteran who survived an injury during an explosion and was shot on the battlefield in Iraq.
“Honestly, for me, COVID-19 and its variants is worse than [the injuries], because it’s a very difficult situation not to know if your next breath is your last breath, “said Williams.
He said he has since fully recovered.
“What people need to focus on is getting vaccinated and protecting themselves against all the strains that currently exist,” said Baylor medical school professor Robert Atmer. “And we may end up having to reinforce. We don’t know yet. I think a lot of people are predicting that this will be necessary.”
In Harris County, the health department found only the variant of the virus in the United Kingdom.
However, this does not mean that others are not in the area. The health department says residents still have to keep their guards up.
RELATED: Houston Health Officials Use New Techniques to Detect COVID-19 Variants
The Houston Department of Health has been analyzing wastewater in different areas of the city for COVID-19 for the past year.
Last week, the UK variant was found at very low levels in several wastewater samples. The Brazil variant was not detected in our area.
Dr. David Persse said that no one has ever done this before, and it is a new science that they are still trying to unravel.
“So this is really not a surprise. What we hope to do is to get a better idea of how much this may be spreading across the community. Again, it will not be very specific, but it is very sensitive, so we will have an early warning,” he said. he. “Although we cannot locate anything, at least we will know what is likely to happen.”
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