ALICE, Texas — One local clinic is experiencing the impact of rising COVID-19 numbers in children.
The Alice Pediatric Clinic has been slammed with patients in recent weeks, and some parents say they had to wait hours for their children to see a doctor.
Some of the nurses at the clinic are working 12 to 14-hour shifts. With COVID-19 numbers in children on the rise with school back in session, they expect these long lines to continue.
Some parents suspect the long lines at the doctor’s office are due to school nurses sending children home with runny noses and coughs as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19.
“I had talked to the nurse yesterday and she sent my grandson home," parent Wanda Wallace said. "She said that if he comes to school today and he coughs, she’s just going to send him back home. So what are you supposed to do?”
Parents said they cannot send their children back to school until they have a negative COVID-19 test result from a doctor.
Many said they are grateful for the doctors and nurses in the area for doing what needs to be done.
The staff at Alice Pediatric Clinic thank their visitors for their patience and asked the community to rally around their healthcare workers at this trying time.