3 Additional Hopkins County COVID Deaths Confirmed
COVID cases in Hopkins County have skyrocketed over the last 10 days, going from a total of 77 new cases from Dec. 1-14 to 899 new cases reported as of Dec. 28, 2021 – 835 of those cases were reported to still be active on Tuesday. Three additional Hopkins County residents’ deaths have also been confirmed by death certificate to have been caused by COVID-19, according to Texas Department of State Health Services COVID 19 dashboards and reports.
The majority of the new cases in Hopkins County were recorded on Dec. 21, which followed a day in which 2,153 COVID tests were conducted in Hopkins County. While 51 is not a record daily high for confirmed cases, that is the most probable cases reported since the state added the total to the overall count on Dec. 11, 2020; and 748 is the most new cases reported for Hopkins County since the pandemic began. That made 794 new cases recorded Dec. 14-21. While that’s a huge spike at any time, the increase in COVID infected individuals was especially notable as it followed two weeks with only 28 confirmed cases and 10 and 11 probable cases each, according to the DSHS data.
Hopkins County Emergency Management Coordinator/Fire Marshal Andy Endsley and CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital – Sulphur Springs CEO Paul Harvey both said Wednesday afternoon that the state data is incorrect. Both say state officials have admitted they are aware the statics posted on the official DSHS COVID dashboards are incorrect, but don’t have corrected statistics yet to release. Those were expected later today or later this week, the county and hospital officials reported.
Over the past 7 days only 28 new COVID cases have been reported – 16 new confirmed and 12 new probable cases. However, that period included a long holiday weekend during which most facilities which offer COVID testing were closed for at least one full day for Christmas, a time when many friends and families gathered in groups, so those numbers could and likely will continue to rise over the next week.
While there haven’t been as many mew cases reported in the past 7 days, that doesn’t mean the virus is gone. A total of 835 Hopkins County residents were reported Dec. 28 to still have the virus, down from 845 active cases on Dec. 21. Since the pandemic began, the most active COVID cases reported by DSHS on a single day in Hopkins County was 498 cases on Sept. 14, a day in which 53 new lab-confirmed COVID cases were reported and 17 new probable cases. That means 330-347 more Hopkins County residents have actively had COVID-19 over the past 7 days than any other day during the pandemic.
The CDC COVID Tracker‘s 7-day metrics showed 768 cases as of Dec. 29, with 2 new hospital admissions for Hopkins County and an 8.7% positivity rate.
A total of 153 Hopkins County residents are confirmed to have died from COVID-19. Five of those deaths have occurred this month, one each on Dec. 3-5, Dec. 7 and Dec. 15. This follows a month with only two COVID deaths – one each on Nov. 5 and Nov. 22. Three residents also died from COVID in October, a month with 303 new cases, and 15 died in September, a month with 720 new COVID cases. Overall, 69 Hopkins County residents have died from COVID-19 in 2021.
