Coronavirus cases climb in Midwest as Labor Day approaches

Yahoo Finance’s Kristin Myers and Houston, TX Emergency Physician Dr. Michael Gonzalez discuss the uptick in coronavirus cases in the Midwest and outbreak concerns as Labor Day approaches.

Video Transcript

KRISTIN MYERS: And as I mentioned earlier, coronavirus cases have now topped 6 million. So, of course, as I had said before, that means we've added 1 million cases in some three weeks. So to chat more about this pandemic, we're joined now by Dr. Michael Gonzalez, emergency physician in Houston, TX.

So Doctor, we're seeing the case counts climb in the Midwest. I had mentioned at the top of the show that we are seeing them spike in Kansas, Kentucky, Iowa, and others. We've added, again, 1 million cases in just the last month. I mean, is this pandemic-- as you're seeing it, is it growing? Are we slowing it down at all? Or is it starting to speed up?

MICHAEL GONZALEZ: Hi, Kristin. Thank you for having me. I think that's a really difficult question to answer. And I think what we're seeing is a lot of the regional influence. And the United States is a large country. And we've really gone through this in a series of waves. And so in Texas in particular, I think we're starting to see the hint of some optimistic findings, in that we are seeing a decrease in our hospitalization rates, a decrease in utilization of our ICU beds.

But our positivity rate is still kind of hovering above the 10%, 12%, 15%, on certain weeks 17%. And, really, we all know that we would really ideally like to have that below 5% before this thing can be anywhere close to what we would say is controlled. And I think some of the areas that you mentioned-- certainly I think the coast went through before Texas did. Texas is still in this sort of middle phase, where we're very concerned about what future might lay ahead.

But I think they're experiencing the lag of the surge that we sort of felt a few months ago. We were really at the very peak of our hospital utilization rates, where we really had very few beds to spare in the larger metropolitan areas, at least.

KRISTIN MYERS: So case counts spiked around Memorial Day, Independence Day, we now have Labor Day coming up. But it seems as if people have only gotten increasingly restless over this summer. Are you concerned that we're going to be seeing another uptick after this holiday weekend?

MICHAEL GONZALEZ: Absolutely. I think the holiday-- the major holidays are certainly areas of concern for us on the front lines, no matter where you are. And we have definitely seen, it's been all over the news, areas that have been less careful with distancing and mask wearing. Those things will continue through the holidays. And Labor Day is coming, as you mentioned, and some of the major holidays with extended periods of time, family gatherings approaching in the fall. And those are huge areas of concern for us on the front lines.

I think the biggest question for all of us right now, particularly in Texas-- a few of our local schools have started to open. But really, the bigger, larger metropolitan areas are largely starting after that Labor Day holiday. And I think that remains the biggest question.

We know our kids are certainly the thing that we care the most about in this world. I have two school-age children that we've been monitoring very carefully about the plans for our organization and our local school district. But I think, knowing that kids can carry this virus and can sometimes be labeled as relatively asymptomatic spreaders, the problem is that we-- they go home. In very simple terms, they go home and they interact with teachers who may be among some of the more vulnerable parts of our population.

And so to me, the holidays are a known quantity. And we know if people practice those things-- social distancing, mask wearing-- that we can weather those things. We made it relatively well through some of those holidays in Texas. But the schools, massively reopening the schools, especially your elementary and middle schools, where those kids are going home every single day, remains to me the biggest question mark.

KRISTIN MYERS: I want to ask you as well about New Jersey and some of the moves that they have been taking recently. They're going to be opening up indoor dining again this Friday. They'll also be opening up their movie theaters. And the governor there, Governor Murphy, has also decided to raise the indoor gathering limits, so church services pushed from 150-- to 150 people or 25% capacity. That's also going to exist for films and indoor performances, theaters.

When you hear an announcement like that, how worried do you get? Or do you think that that is completely the wrong decision that the leadership of any state should be taking right now?

MICHAEL GONZALEZ: I think that they are incredibly optimistic decisions to make at this point in time, given the case loads that we're still-- that we're still seeing. Now, I will say that even in my own state, Texas has been in a 50% occupancy rate for restaurants for some time. And although we are by no means out of this woods, I think we have made some progress in sort of seeing some stabilization.

So my argument always, when I get the chance to either speak to members of the media or elected officials at different levels, is always really sort of a cautious sort of step-wise approach is what I think most of us on the front lines would recommend. Mixing one or two additional variables into any scientific experiment is always the way to do it so that you can measure that outcome. Doing all of those things simultaneously, watching from far away, I can only be concerned about what might happen in New Jersey based on what I've read about the plan is to reopening those different entries, particularly the indoor, large group gathering. We know based on the little research that we have on this novel coronavirus is that those are the highest risk activities, particularly if there's no adjoining mask requirement that comes along with it.

KRISTIN MYERS: All right, well, we'll have to see if the New Jersey governor is listening to you and some of your advice. Dr. Michael Gonzalez, emergency physician in Houston, Texas, thanks for joining us.

MICHAEL GONZALEZ: Thank you.