21 More Confirmed COVID-19 Cases And 12 More Probable Cases Reported For Hopkins County In May Than In April; 12 confirmed cases, 3 Probable Cases Recorded For County During First Week of June
The state’s disaster declaration has been renewed by Governor Greg Abbott. The proclamation issued Friday afternoon simply renewed the declaration that the Governor first issued on March 13, 2020, that the “novel coronavirus (COVID-19) poses an imminent threat of disaster for all counties in Texas,” according to Deputy Secretary of State Joe Esparza.
While that’s not surprising since there are still new cases being diagnosed regularly and people are still dying as a result of the novel coronavirus 2019.
In Hopkins County, the number of COVID cases and fatalities has declined significantly since more vaccinations have become more readily available locally, dropping from 247 new confirmed molecular cases in January to 135 in February, 60 in March, and 32 in April. The number of new probable cases dropped from 153 new cases in January to 134 in February, 38 in March and 24 in April. Both categories increased in May, however, with 53 new confirmed molecular cases and 30 new probable cases reported. During the first week of June, 12 new confirmed cases proven through molecular testing and three new probable cases were reported for Hopkins County, which is two fewer confirmed cases and nine less probable cases, increasing the cumulative totals since March 2020 to 1,668 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,507 probable cases
The number of residents dying as a direct result of COVID-19 has also declined in the last 5 months: dropping from 15 in January to five in February and three each in March, April and May. The latest COVID-19 fatalities confirmed by death certificate occurred on May 6, May 20 and May 23, according to Texas Department of State Health Services COVID-19 County Trends dashboard. That’s 113 Hopkins County residents who have been confirmed to have died from COVID-19 since July 2020. (Hopkins County had no confirmed fatalities between March and June.) None have yet been recorded for June 2021, according to the DSHS data.
The active case count also fluctuated a bit, going from 130 active COVID-9 cases on Jan. 31 to 160 active cases on Feb. 28, 98 on March 31, 31 active cases on April 30 and 41 on May 31. The first week of June 2021 saw the active case count fluctuate from 43 on June 1 down to 33 on June 4 then back up to 36 June 5-7. That’s 3,175 total COVID-19 cases since March of 2020.
So, while there aren’t nearly as many new cases, active cases nor fatalities, COVID-19 has not yet been eradicated from Hopkins County or Texas. Thus, the Governor renewed the COVID-19 disaster declaration for the state, and local officials’ urging for all who are able to attain one of the COVID-19 vaccines.
What does the declaration mean for Hopkins County residents? It won’t mean a lot directly. However, according to Hopkins County Judge Robert Newsom, the continuation of the COVID Disaster Declaration will allow local officials to apply for any disaster relief grants or loans that may be available.
