Coronavirus Numbers Make A Large Drop in Fayette Co.

The number of active cases of coronavirus in Fayette County took a big drop over the past week.

According to numbers provided by the Fayette County Office of Emergency Management, there were 90 active cases and 17 probable cases last Thursday, July 30. As of this Thursday morning, Aug. 6, there are 49 active cases and 20 probable cases. The number of recovered climbed to 286 in the County. The County also knows of 11 people who at one time tested positive but have been lost to follow up.

Fayette County announced that a sixth person has reportedly died of the virus. County Emergency Management Chief Craig Moreau said the patient died two weeks ago and was “fairly young,” but the County just recently learned about the death and did not have all the details.

As reported last week, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is still reporting more deaths in Fayette County than local officials know about. As of Thursday, the State listed 14 deaths attributed to the virus here. That leaves eight deaths unaccounted for locally. The number of deaths reported by the state jumped after DSHS changed the way it classified COVID-19 deaths.

On July 27, DSHS announced that it would count deaths when a person’s death certificate lists COVID-19 as the cause of death. That day, the number of reported coronavirus fatalities in Texas jumped eight percent. Previously. DSHS relied on reporting from local officials.

Moreau said the State sent him the death certificates for three of the eight locally unaccounted deaths. He said the three death certificates do not list COVID-19 as the cause of death. Moreau said on Wednesday he was waiting to see the other five death certificates.

“If our death rate was 150 percent higher than what I thought it was, I would find out about it,” Moreau said. “I get a thousand phone calls a day from everyone who sneezes. If we had that number, I would know about it. It’s just not accurate.

“I don’t want to make things look any better than they are, and I don’t want to make anything look worse than it is,” Moreau said. “I want people to have accurate information so they can make internal decisions based on what those numbers are. People need to have the right numbers.”

Moreau said he hopes to find out more about the unaccounted deaths later this week.