Texas Department of State Health Services COVID-19 Case Counts dashboard showed 1 additional fatality and 1 new lab-confirmed positive COVID-19 case for Hopkins County, leaving 90 active coronavirus cases on Dec. 1. Hopkins County/Sulphur Springs Emergency Management officials in the Dec. 1 COVID-19 update reported the number COVID-19 tests conducted and patient count in the COVID unit at the hospital Tuesday.
Local COVID-19 Case Counts, Testing
According to DSHS reports and the SS/HC EM reports, Hopkins County residents received 47 positive “probable” antigen results and 35 positive molecular results Nov. 24-Nov. 30, down from 108 antigen positives and 38 molecular positives the week of Nov. 17-23.
From Nov. 24-Nov. 30, 433 molecular COVID-19 tests were performed at 128-A Jefferson St., including 150 tests conducted on Monday, Nov. 30. That’s 13 shy of tests performed the week of Nov. 17-23. During the month of November, a total of 2,148 oral swab tests were conducted at the Jefferson Street testing site. A total of 4,531 molecular tests have been conducted since testing was first offered at the Red Cross building (former Fidelity Express building) on Sept. 25, HC/SSEM officials in the Dec. 1 COVID-19 update.
Testing at the site was extended through November following the 323 new confirmed COVID-19 cases reported for Hopkins County and 2,183 molecular tests conducted at the Jefferson Street testing location in October.
The decision has also been made to continue offering the oral swab tests at 128-A Jefferson Street through December. Testing is scheduled Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and has been offered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays at the site as well. Register online at www.GoGetTested.com.
December kicked off with one new COVID-19 case by DSHS, increasing the total number of Hopkins County residents who have received positive molecular COVID-19 test results since March to 834, or 2.25 percent of the population. DSHS has not reported any recoveries on the COVID-19 dashboard since Nov. 9, so the cumulative recovery total stands at 691, according to the DSHS report.
Hospital Reports
Two less patients were reported to be in the COVID-19 unit at CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital-Sulphur Springs on Dec. 1 than on Nov. 30, Hopkins County/Sulphur Springs Emergency Management officials reported in the Dec. 1 COVID-19 update. Only once in since Nov. 23 have there been less than 20 patients in the COVID unit at the hospital, 19 on Thanksgiving Day. The most reported so far for the COVID unit was the 25 reported Monday.
On Dec. 1, DSHS reported there were 357 available hospital beds, 3 available ICU beds, 61 available ventilators, 173 lab-confirmed COVID-91 patients in hospitals, 607 total hospitalizations, 964 total staffed inpatient beds and 1,055 total staffed hospital beds in Trauma Service Area F.
Trauma Service Areas coordinate emergency medical services and hospital emergency response in Texas. Hospital capacity data is usually reported by TSA because the hospital trauma system operates regionally to care for patients. There are 22 TSAs in Texas.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Trauma Service Area F were reported for the fourth straight day to be above 15 percent of the total hospital capacity. In fact, COVID-19 hospitalizations have been above 15 percent of the total hospitals’ capacity in five of the last seven days: 15.01 percent on Thanksgiving Day, 15.76 percent on Nov. 28, 16.25 percent on Nov. 19, 16 percent on Nov. 30 and 16.4 percent on Dec. 1.
When a TSA’s COVID-19 hospitalization exceeds 15 percent of the total hospitalizations for seven consecutive days are considered to have high hospitalizations and are subject to Governor’s Executive Order GA-32, effective in October, which orders COVID-19 restrictions to revert back to 50 percent for many businesses, and could require some such as bars to close.
COVID-19 Fatalities
The DSHS COVID-19 fatality dashboard on Dec. 1 also showed a 53rd COVID-19 fatality has been confirmed by death certificate for Hopkins County, one more COVID-19 death. That gives Hopkins County a fatality rate of 6.35 percent among positive COVID-19 patients and 0.14 percent of the total population.
The date the Hopkins County resident died had not been posted on either the County Trends or Fatalities Over Time By County links on the DSHS website Tuesday afternoon.
In the 8-county regional immediately surrounding Hopkins, only Hunt and Lamar counties have had more COVID-19 fatalities and higher positivity rates. In Hunt County, 60 of the 2,740 residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 died, giving Hunt a death percentage of 2.19 percent among COVID-19 positive residents; the COVID-19 positivity rate is 2.78 percent for of the total population in Hunt County as well. amar County has had 67 confirmed COVID-19 deaths from among 2,787 positive cases, giving the county a death percentage of 2.19 percent among positive cases and 0.13 percent of the total population. Lamar County’s positivity rate is also higher at 5.59 percent of the overall population.
Red River County has a higher fatality percentage among positive cases and the overall population than Hopkins County. Eight of the 227 Red River County residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 have died, giving Red River a 7.15 percent death percent among positive cases and a 1.15 fatality percent out of the total population.
Titus County has the highest COVID-19 positivity rate, with 1,798 of the nearly 33,000 residents (5.59 percent) testing positive for the virus. As of Dec. 1, 41 of the COVID-19 positive residents (2.28 prcent) were confirmed to have died from the virus.
Rains County has had 167 lab-confirmed positive COVID-19 results and 9 deaths, for a total positivity rate of 1.33 percent of the overall population, and a fatality rate of 5.39 percent of COVID-19 cases and 0.07 percent of the population.
Wood County has had 904 residents test positive, a positivity rate of 1.99 percent. From the COVID-19 positive cases, 49 have died from the virus, accounting for 0.07 percent of the population and 5.42 percent of COVID-19 cases.
Franklin County has had 10 of 251 positive cases die from COVID-19, while two of the 50 Delta County residents who have tested positive have died from COVID-19.
Even El Paso County, where 10.34 percent of the population has tested positive for COVID-19, has a lower fatality rate than Hopkins County; that’s 2.26 percent (1,091) of the 86,752 positive cases who have died from COVID-19 and 0.13 percent of the 839,238 population who have died, according to the DSHS COVID-19 Case County dashboard.
HHS COVID-19 Reports
Texas Health and Human Services on Dec. 1 reported two fewer active employee COVID-19 cases and one additional resident recovery for Sulphur Springs facilities on Nov. 17, the most recent data available for from the state agency for nursing facilities.
Carriage House Manor had halved its active employee count from four to two on Nov. 17, and while one employee of Sulphur Springs Health and Rehab no longer had COVID-19 on Nov. 17, another employee tested positive, according to the Dec. 1 HHS nursing facility report.
The loan active resident COVID-19 case at Sulphur Springs Health and Rehab no longer was listed as active on Nov. 17.
There were no active COVID-19 cases among either employees or residents of Sulphur Springs assisted living facilities on Nov. 17, according to the Dec. 1 HHS report.
No active student or employee COVID-19 cases were reported among licensed child care centers, school-age programs, and before- or after-school programs in Hopkins County on Nov. 30, HHS reported on Dec. 1.
