Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, isolated from a patient.
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COVID-19

Texas A&M Epidemiologist Aiding Local COVID-19 Response

The School of Public Health's Rebecca Fischer explains how she and other faculty members are tracking the virus locally.
By Mark Guerrero, Texas A&M University Division of Marketing & Communications April 3, 2020

An assistant professor in Texas A&M University’s School of Public Health is helping local officials monitor the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in College Station and Brazos County.

Officials from the Brazos County Health District asked Rebecca Fischer, who is an expert in epidemiology, and other faculty members to augment their epidemiological response activities. Fischer is among the Texas A&M experts tracking cases in Brazos County by gathering information from patients about their travel history and interviewing people they were in contact with.

Fischer said she’s working with the health department and local leaders to evaluate the current situation and predict how it may evolve in Brazos County. This includes predicting patient hospitalizations to determine where resources should be focused.

“We will continue to see the number of cases increase in Brazos County as well as the state of Texas as whole, and we expect that to happen,” Fischer said. “And we’re not exactly sure when the peak in cases [will happen] or when that will start to turn around and we’ll start seeing fewer cases daily, but definitely our goal is to help the local officials and state officials understand that.”

Media contact: Lesley Henton, lshenton@tamu.edu.

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