BEAUMONT, Texas — January 21, 2022 marks two years since the first COVID-19 case was recorded in the United States.
So much has changed so fast. From the virus itself to how we treat COVID-19 patients.
From the CDC’s guideline changes down to the different vaccines and even COVID-19 pills we now have, it's clear we're still fighting the virus, but with now we're more prepared.
Since then, we've seen over 69 million cases in US plus 864,000 deaths reported.
One Beaumont doctor is sharing his perspective on where we once were to now.
“We have totally changed and the virus has changed, as well,” said Dr. Ray Callas.
From health officials' perspective like Callas, they were introduced to COVID-19 with little to no resources.
“I will tell you that what's changed dramatically is that we do have supplies now,” Callas said. “We do have needs of or we do have treatment needs that we can utilize. We have we know that there are drugs that can treat it. We know that there are vaccines that treat it.”
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Even their approach to nurturing people back to health changed. Now, they're not finding a ton of people on ventilators how they once did.
“We were putting people on multiple different ventilators can take connected him to one oxygen source and all are in order to try to keep them alive, And that was two years ago,” Callas said.
As for the virus itself and all of its variants, Dr. Callas said the length of time someone is sick looks different today.
“Also we're seeing a decrease in the length of time that this virus is staying active in each human being,” Callas said. “You remember before we used to be 14 days at a minimum quarantine. Now we're down to five.”
Even with two years down, there is still a long road ahead.
“Coronavirus is not going away but I think that as days go by, the more and more treatments we have the better chance we have of going back to a normal life,” Callas said.
Dr. Callas said it's important to keep those daily COVID-19 practices in play. Social distance, wear your mask, and get your shot of hope.