By Hill Country Community Journal Staff, August 19, 2020
The Tuesday, Aug. 18, end-of-day numbers tracking the COVID-19 pandemic here in Kerr County reflected an improved scenario by most accounts.
The county logged a single case of positive infection. That brings the number of Kerr County citizens who have tested positive locally to 426 since the pandemic began.
The 1 new case was reported by Peterson Regional Medical Center, whose personnel had performed the diagnostic testing.
“This is welcome news for all of us who have been impacted by the pandemic,” said William B. “Dub” Thomas, the county’s emergency management coordinator.
“We have additional good news in that, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services’ Region 8 update, Kerr County’s number of active infection cases dropped to 16 people today and the number of recoveries rose to 418,” Thomas said. There were no new fatalities, leaving us with 7 Kerr County residents who have succumbed to COVID-19, he added.
To top that off, Peterson Health reported that there were no patients in the Kerrville hospital needing medical treatment for the virus on Tuesday.
“While it is too ambitious to claim these numbers indicate we have control over the virus, we certainly find them encouraging,” Thomas said. “We ask that all our citizens keep up the wearing of your face masks, washing your hands and social distancing, as these measures seem to work the best when everyone complies.”
But, while the numbers seem promising, Thomas added that he does not want residents to become complacent or lax in their precautionary measures.
Free COVID-19 Testing Clinic
“If you have a symptom of COVID-19 or if you’ve been exposed to someone you know has the virus, please seek out a test to be sure you aren’t asymptomatic and spreading the virus to others in our community,” Thomas said.
The next free COVID-19 testing for Kerr County will be Monday, Aug. 24, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the county-owned Hill Country Youth Event Center, 3785 Hwy 27 in Kerrville.
No pre-registration or appointment is needed, just as no doctor’s orders are needed to be tested during the clinic.
Conducting the clinic free of charge will be Curative Inc., a Louisiana-based company that uses FDA-approved oral swabs in its diagnostic testing. Curative Inc. has performed 2 clinics in Kerr County in the past months.
People tested at the clinic will be notified of their results within about 48 hours, Thomas said. As soon as the county has complete results from the clinic, it will announce the statistics to the public.
Local residents who are currently experiencing symptoms and who do not want to wait for the Monday clinic, should know that the leaders at Peterson Health ask that they not go to the emergency room. Instead, they recommend people who suspect they might have the virus to self-isolate and call their primary physicians or Peterson’s Urgent Care at 830-258-7669.
Additionally, Peterson Regional Medical Center has a COVID-19 hotline that it answers during business hours, from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays. Anyone may call 830-896-4200, and select Option 1, to ask any questions that pertain to the pandemic.
See the original article: https://www.hccommunityjournal.com/article_fc74b4a0-e224-11ea-b72c-ffe0744734b2.html
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