Texas Department of State Health Services’ Feb. 9 COVID-19 dashboards showed a total of 14 additional COVID-19 cases, nine COVID-19 recoveries and 19 additional doses of the vaccine administered. COVID-19 hospitalizations were up slightly in Trauma Service Area F.
Case Counts
A total of 14 additional COVID-19 cases were reported for Hopkins County, but not all were new cases. Five were older cases that labs have just reported to DSHS.
Nine Hopkins County residents received positive lab-confirmed molecular (viral) COVID-19 test results on Tuesday, and three older cases that have just been reported to DSHS were also added to the cumulative total. That makes 15 confirmed cases recorded for the first time this week and 71 this month. Since March, 1,440 Hopkins County residents have been confirmed to have COVID-19.
Two additional probable COVID-19 cases were also assigned to Hopkins County on Tuesday, both were older probable cases reported by labs. That’s a dozen probable cases documented this week and 71 so far this month. Since the state began tracking probable COVID-19 cases, Hopkins County has had 1,332 cases, according to the DSHS Feb. 9 COVID-19 Case Counts dashboard.
Nine Hopkins County residents also were reported Feb. 9 to have recovered from COVID-19. So far this week, 18 recoveries have been reported, and 59 this month. That makes 2,475 recoveries from the 2,772 cumulative COVID cases.
That increases the active COVID-19 case count in Hopkins County to 199. In fact, the active case county has continued to rise all month, jumping from 130 active cases on Jan. 31 to 146 cases on Feb. 1, and 130 190 on Saturday, but only by nine this week, rising from 190 on Sunday to 194 Monday and 199 on Tuesday.
Hospital Reports
Hopkins County/Sulphur Springs Emergency Management officials, in the Feb. 9 COVID-19 update, reported 14 patients in the COVID Unit at CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital-Sulphur Springs, the same as on Feb. 1 and Feb. 8. That’s the most COVID-19 patients in the COVID unit so far this month: there were 12 COVID patients on Feb. 2 and 4, and 10 on Feb. 5.
Tuesday’s COVID count still only about half as many COVID-19 patients in CMFH-SS as there were during the first full work week in January: the low was 29 on Jan. 4 and the high was 32 on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8; the second full work week in January started with 22 patients on Jan. 11 and 12, and ended with 29 COVID-19 patients on Jan. 15. Similarly, the first week of December, the patient census at CMFH-SS ranged from 21 patients on Dec. 2 to 23 patients on Dec. 1 and the same range for the week of Dec. 7.
Before this month, the last time the COVID patient count at the Sulphur Springs hospital was 14 was Nov. 9. The last time it was below 14 before February was 13 on Nov. 4, 11 on Oct. 27 and 29, and 10 on Oct. 26. The last time less than 10 patients were in the COVID Unit at CMFH-SS was Oct. 22-23, when eight patients had COVID-19.
On Feb. 8, there were 121 COVID-19 hospitalizations in Trauma Service Area F, three more than on Sunday, Feb. 7, but still two less than Saturday, 10 less than Friday, 16 less than Thursday, 13 less than last Monday and Tuesday, and 22 less than on Feb. 1. Across the state, there continued to be for the second consecutive day 9,401 COVID-19 hospitalizations. Feb. 8 was the first day this month that the COVID-19 patient count hasn’t dropped. There were 11,002 COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the state on Feb. 1, then 10,827 on Feb. 2 and 9,957 on Feb. 5.
COVID-19 patients made up 11.02 percent of the total hospital capacity in Trauma Service Area F on Feb. 8, up from 11.01 percent on Feb. 6 and 10.95 percent on Feb. 7, according to the DSHS Feb. 9 COVID-19 Test and Hospital Data dashboard and the Feb. 9 Combined Hospital Data over Time by Trauma Service Area report.
COVID-19 Testing
HC/SSEM’s Feb. 9 COVID-19 update showed a total of 9,454 COVID-19 tests have been conducted at 128-A Jefferson Street since Red Cross building was first opened as a free testing center in the fall, including 52 tests performed on Monday and at least 472 molecular tests performed so far this month.
Since March, 17,744 viral or molecular COVID-19 tests have been performed in Hopkins County, including the 9,454 performed at the free testing center.
Nine antigen COVID-19 tests were conducted on Monday, increasing the total number of antigen tests conducted in Hopkins County since DSHS began tracking the data to 2,015. One antibody COVID-19 test was also conducted in Hopkins County on Monday, increasing the total since the state began tracking the data to 1,790 antibody tests performed in Hopkins County.
Cumulatively, that’s 18,549 COVID-19 tests conducted in Hopkins County and reported to DSHS, according to the DSHS Feb. 9 COVID-19 Test and Hospital Data dashboard.
Free oral swab COVID-19 testing has been extended through the month of February in Sulphur Springs. Testing is typically offered from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays inside the Red Cross (old Fidelity Express) building in Sulphur Springs.
Free testing is open to anyone regardless of age or address. However, registration is required online at www.GoGetTested.com in order to be tested at 128-A Jefferson Street in Sulphur Springs.
COVID-19 Vaccines
A total of 2,364 people have received COVID-19 vaccines in Hopkins County. Seven additional people had received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, increasing the overall total as of 11:59 p.m. Feb. 8 to 1,932. A dozen more people received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, increasing the total so far to 423 as of Feb. 8.
According to the DSHS Vaccine Data dashboard, which fluctuates daily, 80 in Hopkins County received the first dose of the vaccine during the first week of vaccine allocations and distributions by the state, 63 on week 2, 161 on week 3, 738 on week 4, 218 on week 5, 702 on week 6, 190 on week 7, 201 on week 8 and 11 so far this week. Only second doses of the vaccine were allocated to Hopkins County in weeks 7 and 8.
Only 200 first-doses of the vaccine have been allocated to Hopkins County this week, 100 each to Brookshire’s and Walgreens Pharmacies. To see if you are eligible to have the COVID-19 vaccine at a Walgreens location, visit walgreens.com/schedulevaccine. For information about Brookshire’s vaccine waiting list, visit https://www.brookshires.com/covid-19-information. The full list of vaccine allocations for the week of Feb. 8, vaccination hub providers with contact information, the DSHS/Texas Department of Emergency Management map of vaccine providers, and the Texas Vaccine Data dashboard can all be accessed by clicking the links. More information on the COVID-19 vaccine can be found at dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/immunize/vaccine.aspx.
A toll free phone number has been established through Ark-Tex Council of Governments, so that individuals who reside in the ATCOG area who meet 1B criteria but don’t have a computer or internet access, or who aren’t skilled with them, can call 1-800-372-4464, Someone in the ATCOG office help them set up an appointment if one is available in their area or to get on a waiting list for COVID-19 vaccines in their area. That call is toll free, and residents will need to provide some information so the ATCOG help can complete the process for them.
