When COVID started hitting the Rio Grande Valley, UTRGV was the first to open a public testing site.

Four weeks ago, the number of test samples UTRGV collected at its sites peaked around 400 to 500 a day.

The dean of the UTRGV School of Medicine, Dr. John Krouse, said demand for other things is down too. Phone calls are down from 3,000 a day to 1,000.

UTRGV also runs a large lab to test its own samples and those of other healthcare providers.

Demand for those lab tests is also about half of what it was before, at about 800 samples tested each day.

"I think it's very good news. I think there's a subtle but measurable decline in new cases. I think hospitalizations have gone down here in the last week or so. These are good signs. I think it's pointing to the fact that perhaps the burden of COVID-19 has started to decline a bit in the Valley. And that's very good," said Krouse.

Dr. Krouse attributes that to people getting the message about social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing.

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