Civic Center Will Again Serve As ‘Mobile Test Collection’ Site
Of the 346 COVID-19 screenings of Hopkins County residents, only eight have been confirmed positive, 301 were negative and 17 test results are still pending, according to the COVID-19 testing update reported by Hopkins County Hospital District COO and EMS Director Brent Smith at 11 a.m. May 12. The number of screenings will likely increase significantly within the week, as test results from another free mobile test collection planned in Sulphur Springs this Friday begin coming back, according to the Hopkins County Emergency Management Team.
Free Mobile Testing
Another free COVID-19 mobile test collection is scheduled from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. Friday, May 15, at Hopkins County Regional Civic Center, 1200 Houston St., in Sulphur Springs. Registration is required. Call 512-883-2400 starting at 8 a.m. Thursday, May 14 register for the screening. Callers will be asked some simple brief questions about any symptoms they may have.
Anyone working in the fields of healthcare, public safety or critical infrastructure will automatically be accepted for the testing even if the person has no symptoms.
Smith and HCEMT encourage individuals to take advantage of the opportunity to test if they feel that they may have come in contact with someone or feel they have symptoms. This is for anyone in those above listed fields, anyone who exhibit symptoms or feel they have been in contact with someone who has symptoms.
Testers don’t have to be Hopkins County residents either. In fact, tests may be scheduled at any of the state’s mobile test collection sites free. If testing at any other test location, those being tested should be sure to enquire about associated fees. For a daily list of available testing locations, free or otherwise, go online to covidtest.tedem.texas.gov, check the online map for the next nearest site, then click for additional information (including times, address and directions).
The City of Emory will also have the testing on Friday at the Rains Junior High School. Callers may request either location.
Those registered will simply stay in a vehicle, get in line and roll down their window when it’s time to be tested. The sample will be taken. When the results are in, the person tested will be notified of tje results. More than 80 people were tested at the mobile test collection site held two weeks ago at the CIvic Center.
Hopkins County Stats
Hopkins County received reports from the state of two new lab-confirmed cases over the last week, bringing for a total of 8 cases confirmed by healthcare providers and Texas Department of State Health Services during the 58 days Smith has been providing regular updates.
The first 4 COVID-19 patients had all recovered from the virus by April 22, giving Hopkins County 8 days without any active COVID-19 cases, according to officials. The first new confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 reported in Hopkins County since April 4 were reported the afternoon of May 1. One additional case each was reported on May 7 and May 10; all four cases are still active as of the last report from emergency officials.
COVID-19 TESTING TOTALS AS OF: 3/21 3/27 3/30 4/02 4/06 4/10 4/15 4/20 4/22 4/28 5/5 5/12 COVID-19 TESTING TOTALS AS OF: Confirmed Positive Cases 0 1 2 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 8 Confirmed Positive Active Cases 0 1 2 3 4 3 2 1 0 0 2 4 Active Cases Confirmed Negative Tests NA NA 16 41 65 97 115 130 137 174 279 321 Confirmed Negative Tests Pending Tests NA NA 44 32 20 13 7 7 8 3 16 17 Pending Tests Screenings Sent for Testing 31 53 62 76 89 114 126 141 149 181 301 346 Screenings Sent for Testing
Because Hopkins County continues to have 5 or fewer active cases, the businesses authorized by the Governor to reopen last Friday may continue to do so at 50 percent capacity.
Overall, 346 individuals with Hopkins County addresses have met the requirements put in place by Texas DSHS and the Centers for Disease Control for testing and have been screened for COVID-19. Seventeen tests were pending at the 11 a.m. May 12 HCHD/EMS reporting time, one more than the May 5 report.
In the last seven days, 32 additional tests have come back negative for COVID-19, for a total of 321 lab-confirmed negative tests as of the May 12 testing report.
Texas Stats
Overall, 219 of Texas’ 254 counties have reported positive cases of COVID-19, which is three more counties reporting cases than on May 5, according to Texas Department of State Health Services and Texas Health and Human Services COVID-19 case counts data, which was last updated at 3:25 p.m. May 11.
Some areas of Northeast Texas are doing better than others as far as number of cases reported, with only four counties in the area reporting fewer overall confirmed cases than Hopkins County.
Delta Counties as of the 3:25 p.m. DSHS/HHS report on May 11 was the only Northeast Texas counties with only 1 case, and that individual has recovered. Rains County remained at 2 cases, both have recovered. Franklin Counties had 1 additional case over the last week, for a total of only 3 cases, including 1 patient who has recovered from CVOID-19. Camp County continues to have only 7 cases, included five people who have recovered, according to the state data.
Morris County’s count increased from 5 to 9 COVID-19 cases, although four people have reportedly recovered from the virus. Red River also has nine cases, eight of which are active.
The remaining counties in Northeast Texas’s cases all have more than 10 cases each, some showing small and others significant increases in cases.
TEXAS Reports (DSHS/HHS) April 10, 2020 April 15, 2020 April 20, 2020 April 22, 2020 April 28, 2020 May 5, 2020 May 12, 2020 Total tests 115,918 151,810 190,394 216,783 300,384 427,210 525,697 Cases reported 11,671 15,492 19,458 21,069 26,171 33,369 39,869 Confirmed COVID-19 Patients In Texas Hospitals 1,532 1,538 1,411 1,678 1,682 1,888 1,725 Patients Recovered (Estimate) 1,366 3,150 5,706 7,341 11,786 16,791 21,713 Fatalities 226 364 495 543 690 906 1,100
Dallas and Tarrant Counties have the second and most COVID-19 cases in the state, with Harris County leading.
Tarrant County has 3,695 confirmed cases, with an estimated 104 deaths and 806 who have recovered from the virus (putting Tarrant fourth to Bexar County’s 978 recoveries). Dallas County’s 5,870 cases, resulting in an estimated 145 deaths and 2606 recoveries. Harris County 7,878 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases, with 179 fatalities and 3,138 who have recovered.
Five other counties across the state have more than 1,000 cases: Travis County 2,127 cases, Bexar County 1,901, Fort Bend County 1,385, El Paso County 1,340. Potter County also passed that mark this week with a total of 1,124 cases.
An additional 194 COVID-19 deaths were reported in Texas in the last six days, for a total of 1,100 fatalities reported to DSHS and HHS, as of the May 11 report.
However, an estimated 4,922 additional Texas patients have recovered from COVID-19 in the last six days, increasing the total number of Texas recoveries to 21,713 as of the May 11 report.
Throughout the state, 98,487 additional COVID-19 screenings have been sent for testing over the past seven days, up to 525,697 total screenings for Texas as of the DSHS/HHS report on May 11. Some of the increase can be attributed to the state efforts to offer additional testing in more areas, including temporary drive-through and mobile test collection sites.
An additional 6,500 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed throughout the state during the past seven days. That brings the total of Texas confirmed positive COVID-19 cases to 39,869.
The number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals decreased by 163 patients over the last week to 1,725 in the hospital for COVID-19 as of the May 11 report. Throughout Trauma Service Area F, within which Sulphur Springs is located, 16 COVID-19 patients were reported to be in regional hospitals, the same as reported six days ago, according to the state report.
While the number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases remains small, eight total confirmed cases during the last 58 days and only four of which are active cases, HCHD and EMS remind everyone to continue practicing social distancing and proper hand-washing techniques. Doing so will help keep the Hopkins County positive number low by helping to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19 through the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
