Three Locals Currently Hospitalized With COVID, One More Death Being Investigated

Fayette County Emergency Management Chief Craig Moreau said he knows of three people currently hospitalized for COVID-19, as of Sept. 23.

However, Moreau said others may be hospitalized without his knowledge because the State of Texas does not provide Fayette County with that information.

“They have not been listing new hospitalization in my line list from the state,” Moreau said, referring to the daily COVID update he gets from Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). “The three who I know are hospitalized are not on that line list. There could be others, but to my knowledge, there are at least three.”

Moreau said he depends on local resources to gather information about the spread of coronavirus in Fayette County. He said Fayette County works with the local AgriLife Extension Office to track down people who tested positive and follow up on their progress. He said the County also stays in contact with local healthcare providers to find out about positive tests.

Test results, COVID deaths and hospitalizations are supposed to get reported to DSHS. In turn, DSHS is supposed to provide that information to local officials. But that doesn’t seem to work in practice. For example, Moreau’s office reports that Fayette County has had 585 total cases since the pandemic began. DSHS, on the other hand, reports that number at 467. The County reports 512 recoveries and 10 deaths, while DSHS reports 353 recoveries and 18 deaths. Moreau said the state’s reporting has improved some recently, but he said the County cannot rely on the state’s reporting.

“From the beginning, and this has been extremely frustrating to me, there has been inconsistent data transferred to us from the state,” Moreau said. “We are still relying heavily on local resources – cooperation from families of those ill and medical providers for our information. If it wasn’t for our local resources, I imagine this pandemic would be much more difficult.”

In other news, Moreau said patients from the recent coronavirus outbreak at local nursing homes and the county jail continue to recover. Two nursing home residents associated with that outbreak have died. Moreau said he is investigating the death of another resident which may have been due to the virus.

“We’re looking into it, but we have not confirmed yet whether it was COVID-related,” Moreau said. He said healthcare providers are watching closely over two jailers who contracted the virus, but their conditions are improving. All inmates who tested positive at the jail have now recovered, Moreau said.

“The nursing homes have improved, but not quite as well as the jail,” Moreau said.

He said all but two staff members who tested positive at long term care facilities have since recovered as of Wednesday. The two remaining staff members were waiting for their quarantine period to end but are otherwise healthy.