ODESSA, Texas — One of China's biggest cities, Shanghai, began a two-stage lockdown on Monday. This was a way for authorities to try to control COVID-19 infections.
What does that means for us in the United States or even here locally in West Texas?
NewsWest 9 spoke with Dr. Rohith Saravanan, Chief Medical Officer at Odessa Regional Medical Center. He said locally we have been labeled as a low risk community for several weeks now, but that it's good that some places around the globe are taking steps to avoid mistakes of the past.
"It's because of what we have learned so far and how fast it spreads," said Saravanan. "Big cities will be a little more careful because if they can catch it and contain it early, it's less likely to go other places and cause large scale disease. That's what we're seeing parts of world doing."
Dr. Saravanan believes the medical field has learned to keep on eye on what could come.
"If it is going to come to our community, we will know before it comes here and anticipate that it will come here," said Saravanan. "When that happens then we start to use the tools we have like putting masks in indoor places and making sure we are more careful when we get together with other people."
For now, Saravanan hopes the community remains aware of what is happening in other parts of the world and use the tools we have to stay safe.
"The vaccine is the number one thing we need to keep in mind," said Saravanan. "If you are not fully vaccinated or not up to date in your vaccines, go get up to date on your vaccine. The second thing is stay informed and continue to watch it not only here but in other parts of the world."
Local doctors continue to encourage people to get vaccinated with either the first two doses of the vaccine or booster shots, especially now that the FDA gave the go-ahead for another COVID vaccine booster for people aged 50 and older and certain people who are immunocompromised.