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One of the main allergens people are struggling with this time of year is ragweed. (Melissa McMasters/CC)
Have Austin's famously brutal allergies left you wondering if you've contracted COVID-19 this year? If so, you're not alone because residents new and old have been hit hard by allergies this fall.
Austin, with its warm climate and windy rolling hills, is the perfect breeding ground for wind-blown pollen all year long, according to Texas Children's Specialty Care Austin allergy and immunology specialist Dr. Alison Humphrey.
"A lot of (native) trees, grasses and weeds, they depend on wind to blow their pollen around to pollinate themselves," Humphrey said. "They tend to be really fine particles that blow for long distances but that also means those really fine particles can go easily up our nose, in our eyes and down into our lungs."
On top of that, allergy symptoms can be extreme depending on your predisposition to reactions and can feel eerily similar to COVID-19 symptoms. However, there are ways to tell the two apart before you go running to the doctor.
While most cities get a break from their allergies when the weather cools down, Austin's temperate winter is a double-edged sword. Austinites don't really get a reprieve from seasonal allergies—according to Humphrey, you can expect sniffles all-year long if you're unlucky.
A year of allergens
Potential allergens are present in Austin all year long and even though cedar is famously inflammatory, Humphrey said she gets just as many patients for ragweed and oak allergies.
"I think cedar definitely gets the press because it's during the holidays and the counts can be so astronomical, making people feel so, so, so crummy," Humphrey said. "Especially for fall, ragweed, alternaria mold and spring oak, I would say are our top allergens."
Ragweed season is tapering off, usually spanning July-October, but Humphrey said it is lingering a bit longer than normal this year. Humphrey tells her patients that the dreaded "cedar fever" will resume from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day and after that, oak pollen takes over through May.
Though grass pollen can bother residents year-round, it starts to germinate around May. Mold is prevalent all year long, especially in the colder months and after it rains. After that, the cycle continues anew.
COVID-19 vs. allergies
Austin company seeks volunteers for COVID vaccine trials amid a ‘tremendous amount of fear’(Levan/Adobe)According to Humphrey, one of the first questions she asks patients is if they recently made a move to Austin, and if so, where did they move from. Since so many of the allergies suffered by residents come from plants native to Central Texas, newbies usually develop allergies within the first few years of being here.
Even if you're a lifelong local, you can still suffer a reaction to Austin's native plants. There is one key differentiator between allergies and COVID:
"If you're super itchy, it's more likely it's allergies. If you take over-the-counter allergy meds and you get relief, it's more likely allergies," Humphrey said. "On the flip side, if you've got a fever, if you have chills, body aches, a really bad persistent cough or if you have a big change in your sense of taste or smell, for sure that's when you'd want to see a doctor and get a COVID test."
Itchiness in your eyes, nose, face, throat and skin is a telltale sign unique to allergies, according to Humphrey, but the two illnesses share a variety of symptoms. Congestion, runny noses, postnasal drip and a cough can be present in both cases but Humphrey said you should seek help when you feel feverish.
At-home prevention
Start by giving your home a regular scrubbing, especially for those things you don't normally think about cleaning like throw pillows and rugs that harbor allergens. During your peak allergy season, take a shower after you've been outside and if you took your animal with you, clean them off as well. Many locals eat local honey daily to naturally aid their allergies—the more hyperlocal the pollen, the more it will help.
The best introduction to over-the-counter medication for allergies is a nasal steroid like Flonase or Rhinocort, according to Humphrey, and you can add an oral antihistamine like Zyrtec or Allegra for more severe allergies. If you're still struggling with allergies on top of that, Humphrey says you may want to check in with a doctor.
Cedar fever is just around the corner so keep those allergy meds close!
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Popular
The Montopolis Dollar tree, run by one employee, closed earlier this month only after an AC specialist said it was unsafe. (Claire Partain)
Lopez was filmed working alone at the location May 1 in a since-deleted video that saw 2.9 million views and over 450,000 likes.
In the video, stacked boxes littered the floor, shelves were left unstocked and a leaky, broken air conditioning unit welcomed customers into the understaffed storefront.
@trishmartinez32#x_bazan06#fyp#fypシ#tiktok#friends#like#comment#4upage#4u#share#viralvideo#trending#wow#4upageシ♬ original sound - Patricia Martinez
Lopez, who now works at the dollar store's Springdale location, says she was left with the aftermath of a 90-hour workweek, lost wages and a mystery illness after the store closed a few days later.
"Nobody ever told me... that there was no air conditioning. They didn't tell me there was danger of getting robbed," Lopez told Austonia. "Nobody said anything... they didn't care."
The location didn't shut its doors because of the TikTok exposure: instead, an AC unit specialist doing routine maintenance found employees working in extreme heat and said it was too hot for employees to continue working.
"To operate a business, you have to have your temperature within a certain parameter," Ikaika, the specialist who didn't disclose his full name to protect his job, told Austonia. "As soon as you walk in, you start sweating... it's not good at all."
Lopez said working in 90+ degree heat became the norm in her two months at the location as air conditioning units remained broken for months before the closure. She added some employees, including her former manager and several customers, passed out in the store due to the heat. But she said company leadership remained unresponsive.
Lopez said she sent her district manager, Veronica Oyervides, screenshots of 90+ degree temperatures inside the store. (Maggie Lopez)
Four days after the air conditioning repairman told employees they should no longer keep working at the store, Lopez said her district manager, Veronica Oyervides, was asking her to come back in to prep the location for reopening. Lopez worked May 8 in the shuttered store prepping it for a reopening, which has yet to happen. Oyervides has declined to comment.
Ever since she started working in the deteriorating Dollar Tree, Lopez said she often wakes up with nosebleeds. She said she's constantly thirsty, her hands shake, and she's experiencing headaches and mood swings—symptoms she believes are due to long-term exposure to mold.
Former assistant manager Linnea Bradley told Austonia she has been hospitalized with symptoms linked to heat and stress after working at the store.
"We are sick and corporate does not give a shit," Lopez said. "What kind of damage did these stupid units do to our bodies?"
Lopez hasn't sought care for her symptoms. She says she makes $13.50 an hour and doesn't have health insurance.
Former employees have more complaints than just the heat: Lopez said that personal safety became a concern in the understaffed store. Catherine, a former employee who wished to only reveal her first name, said she's witnessed large-scale theft and instances of mismanagement in her months as a stocker at the location.
"They have no security, no cameras... they don't want you to have anything in writing," Catherine told Austonia. "It's just complete chaos."
Catherine said that she and other hourly employees were given zero hours for weeks on end as managers, who work on salary, were left to run the store alone from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day. She said some managers became so desperate they were hiring homeless people to help stock shelves in exchange for a drink and a bite to eat.
While Catherine (top, middle) often had zero-hour weekly schedules, Martinez, who was paid on salary, worked back-to-back 90-hour workweeks. (Catherine) (Claire Partain)
"They actually did have people willing to work, they just refused to give them hours," Catherine said. "I'm not understanding whether Dollar Tree wants to go under... are they doing this as a tax break?"
Other Austin Dollar Tree locations have reported similar issues. Former manager Jonathan Martinez, who says he was supposed to work 45 hours a week, says he was racking up 90+ hour workweeks and sleeping in the store as he shouldered both the Montopolis and William Cannon locations while his newborn baby was in the ICU in March.
Martinez kept extra clothes in this office after working seven-day weeks at two Dollar Tree locations. (Claire Partain)
Martinez said he slept on boxes as he juggled the job and visiting his newborn in the ICU. (Claire Partain)
Martinez said he slept on boxes as he juggled the job and visiting his newborn in the ICU. (Claire Partain)
"As long as the store stays open, there are corporate people getting bonuses," Martinez, who quit last week after receiving a $100 annual bonus, told Austonia. "Six months ago, when corporate people had a shitload of bonuses, that's when they upped the price (of everything in the store from $1 to $1.25)."
In the six months since Dollar Tree hiked its prices to $1.25, it's gained plenty of mostly negative national attention. In February, the Food and Drug Administration shut down an Arkansas distribution plant due to a massive rodent infestation, and several lawsuits have ensued. The company has also come under fire for selling allegedly expired over-the-counter medicine and its worker shortage at locations across the country.
One employee, who still works for Dollar Tree and wished to remain anonymous, said that they've seen or heard that many area locations are near their breaking point.
"I've seen the good, the bad, the bad to worse," they said. "And it's always a rinse repeat kind of thing... How many more (stores) will go? And what about the employees?"
"Every time I would tell (Oyervides) 'I'm just going to close, I can't stand it anymore,' she would say, 'No, no, no,'" Lopez said. "And I'd be so upset because why? They have my paycheck. It's just been mortifying... the most horrible year of my life."
Dollar Tree's regional director did not respond to requests for comment from Austonia.
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