COVID-19 Precautions Are Slowly Easing in Deep East Texas

March 4, 2026

NACOGDOCHES, TX (EAST TEXAS NEWS) – COVID-19 protocols in East Texas’ far eastern region are being rolled back gradually.

“With the good and the bad, we’ve reached this point, and we’re going to take every victory we can as a community, because we did it together as a community,” said Dr. George Fidone.

The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has tracked data on the prevalence of COVID-19. Dr. Fidone of Lufkin Children’s Clinic said the center determined that a community needs a total of 10 cases or fewer to eliminate COVID-19-related requirements. However, public members who are immunocompromised should still take precautions despite everything, he noted.

“Imagine an infection that only takes 10 cases to cause 100,000 people to have to wear masks and take those precautions. That is an incredibly contagious infection. It’s ten people in the city of Tyler, and everyone in Tyler would have to take precautions. Well, that’s how infectious Omicron is,” Fidone said.

Fidone said that the low risk of COVID-19 in Angelina County is due to the highly contagious Omicron variant that has infected so many people.

“So we’re in a place where we’ve found a kind of middle ground. It isn’t doing us much harm. And it has infected so many people that we’re all protected through vaccines or previous illness. So we’re very lucky, very lucky,” Fidone said.

Fidone said he believes the medical community can always be reactive to the COVID-19 virus and to any future variant it may produce.

“New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, D.C., Philadelphia — there were rail cars with hundreds of bodies in them. And now we’re not hearing that because we have something that’s far more likely to linger for a while, because most of the time it isn’t making us terribly sick. It’s not weakening us, it’s not killing us,” Fidone said.

Fidone said he believes COVID-19 is far from over. He thinks the virus will mutate again, but encouraged the community to enjoy this period of normalcy.

Madelyn Carter

My name is Madelyn Carter, and I’m a Texas-born journalist with a passion for telling stories that connect communities. I’ve spent the past decade covering everything from small-town events to major statewide issues, always striving to give a voice to those who might otherwise go unheard. For me, reporting isn’t just about delivering the news — it’s about building trust and shining a light on what matters most to Texans.