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COVID Threshold Reached

  • COVID Threshold Reached
    COVID Threshold Reached
  • COVID Threshold Reached
    COVID Threshold Reached

Flatonia Police Chief Lee Dick (above right) administers a coronavirus vaccine to local home health nurse Lisa Blasig (above left). Fayette County received about 50 doses of the vaccine this week. The County distributed them to healthcare workers and first responders on Wednesday. Dick, who began his career as a paramedic and has kept up his certification ever since, volunteered to assist the County with administering the vaccines. County Emergency Management Chief Craig Moreau and EMS Director Josh Vandever (right) were also administering vaccines that day.

Fayette County Judge Joe Weber announced in a press release Tuesday several new restrictions due to the high hospitalization rate associated with COVID-19 in the area.

“Fayette County is part of Trauma Service Area O (TSA O), that has had seven consecutive days in which the number of COVID-19 hospitalized patients as a percentage of total hospital capacity within TSA O exceeds 15%. Hitting that percentage meets the definition of a high hospitalization area, which prohibits elective surgeries and pushes restaurants back to 50% occupancy and closes bars,” said Fayette County Judge Joe Weber.

Governor Greg Abbott’s COVID-19 emergency order (GA-32) allows county judges to request a waiver to the restrictions if case numbers remain low within the county.

“GA-32 allows counties in TSAs with high hospitalizations to continue to allow elective surgeries if the county has fewer than 30 cases reported over the last 14 days, and the county judge submits an attestation to DSHS,” Weber said.

As of Wednesday, Fayette County Emergency Management Chief Craig Moreau reported nine active lab-confirmed cases over the last 14 days. Moreau said he knew of a few more active cases that have not yet been entered into the state database.

“We might be closer to 15 or 16, but we’re still well under the mandated number of 30,” Moreau said.

There were an additional 31 “probable” cases that have not been lab-confirmed. However, Moreau said the state only considers lab-confirmed cases for the purposes of the GA-32 waiver.

“I intend to immediately file the necessary paperwork that will allow St. Marks to continue to provide the needed services to our residents and allow our businesses and restaurants to continue operating at 75%,” Weber said in the press release. “We certainly want to do everything we can to protect both the physical as well as the economic health of our community and still support our hospital and local businesses.”

Keeping local bars open will be part of that waiver.

According to the numbers provided by Moreau, Fayette County appears to have avoided the big increase in cases happening statewide and even just across the county line. As of Jan. 4, neighboring Lee County reported 150 active cases over the previous 14 days.

“I think our testing has helped a lot,” Moreau said of Fayette’s low numbers. “Local media has also helped a lot, getting information to the public. I think people aren’t as confused here about what they’re supposed to do. Communication and testing are a big part of that.”

In the press release, Weber said county officials continue to work with local providers and the state to get more of the doses of the vaccine here.

“We are pushing as hard as we can to get more doses of the vaccine – we’ve proven that if we get it here, we can get people vaccinated. I want to thank our local health providers and St. Marks for all the assistance they’ve provided us,” he said. “We have one of lowest infection rates and COVID case counts in our region and that’s through the effort of Fayette County residents. I want to thank all of you for that.”

Moreau said the County is still waiting on another shipment of vaccine doses. Over 1,000 doses were distributed in Fayette County during the week after Christmas. All of those went to medical workers, first responders and nursing home staff and residents. But the County has not received any additional vaccine doses since then. Moreau was hopeful last week that a big shipment would arrive this week, but as of Wednesday, Jan. 13, Fayette County only received 50 additional doses. Moreau said those were being distributed Wednesday to medical workers and first responders who had not yet received a vaccine.

Moreau said nearly all nursing home residents and staff in Fayette County who wanted a vaccine have received one.

Moreau expressed frustration at the state’s slow pace of delivering vaccines to rural areas such as Fayette County. On Jan. 11, Governor Abbott announced an initiative to step up vaccinations by designating 28 vaccination “hubs” that are capable of distributing mass numbers of vaccines. All of those hubs are located in large cities.

“So far, the big allocations are going to the cities,” Moreau said. “I hope that doesn’t continue, but so far that has been the case.”