The six new positive COVID-19 cases, reported by Hopkins County/Sulphur Springs Emergency Management officials in the Nov. 19 COVID-19 update, set a new active case count high for November. Texas Department of State Health Services also on Nov. 19 reported a 50th COVID-19 death has been confirmed for Hopkins County.
HC/SSEM Nov. 19 COVID-19 Update
So far this week, 24 Hopkins County residents have received positive molecular COVID-19 results. That makes 91 Hopkins County residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 this month and 775 who have received lab-confirmed positive COVID-19 results since March. That’s 2.09 percent of the estimated population of Hopkins County who have received lab-confirmed positive COIVD-19 results since March, according to HC/SSEM updates.
The month started out well with 19 residents recovering from COVID-19 on Nov. 2, 21 on Nov. 6 and 42 on Nov. 9. That made 82 recoveries and only 45 new cases, reducing the overall active case count to 107 on Nov. 9; that’s the least number of residents who actively had COVID-19 in the last 28 days. The case count continued to rise from 100 active cases on Oct. 13 to 236 on Oct. 28, then started a downward trend Oct. 29-Nov. 2, increased by 11 cases from Nov. 3–5, then dropped again Nov. 6-9.
Unfortunately, there have been no reports from HC/SSEM of additional residents recovering from COVID-19 in 10 days. That means only 622 of the 775 residents who have tested positive have recovered and, with no recoveries to offset the 46 new cases reported from Nov. 10 to Nov. 19, the active case count has also continued to rise as well. As of 1 p.m. Thursday, the active case county was 153, just passing the 152 active cases reported on Nov. 5, for a new November high.
HC/SSEM also in the Nov. 19 COVID-19 update reported 3,755 people have utilized the free COVID-19 testing offered at 128-A Jefferson St. since the site opened on Sept. 25. In fact, 102 tests were performed at the site on Wednesday, Nov. 18. So far, 303 tests have been performed this week and 1,362 this month.
Molecular testing will continue to be offered from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays in November. Register online at www.GoGetTested.com for the oral swab test.
Hospital Reports
While the patient count in the COVID Unit at CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital-Sulphur Springs did not increase on Thursday, it also didn’t decrease. There were again 17 patients in the COVID-19 unit, according to the Nov. 19 COVID-19 update.
That’s the fourth time this month and only the fifth time since HC/SSEM officials began reporting patient counts for the COVID-19 unit at the hospital in August. There were also 17 in the COVID unit on Nov. 10, Nov. 16, and Sept. 28.
The patient count has continued to be a double digit since Oct. 26. The fewest number of patients in the COVID unit this month was 13 on Nov. 4.Trauma Service Area F Categories Nov. 17, 2020 Counts Nov. 18, 2020 Counts Nov. 19, 2020
CountsPopulation Estimate 2020 273,329 273,329 273,329 Total Staffed Hospital Beds 1,057 1,075 1,110 Available Hospital Beds 364 364 375 Available ICU Beds 11 9 9 Available Ventilators 75 74 75 Lab-Confirmed COVID-19 Patients in Hospital 139 138 149 Total Hospitalizations 602 620 149 Total Staffed Inpatient Beds 966 984 1,019
DSHS Fatality & Case Reports
Texas Department of State Health Services’ COVID-19 dashboard showed 50 COVID-19 fatalities for Hopkins County on Nov. 19. That means one additional Hopkins County resident has been confirmed by death certificate to have died from COVID-19.
That makes 3 Hopkins County residents who have died this month from COVID-19, one each on Nov. 1, Nov. 5 and Nov. 13. More than half of the deaths occurred in October. Two Hopkins County residents died from COVID-19 in July, six in August and 11 in September. That’s a death rate of 6.36 percent among residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 since March, and 0.13 percent of the overall estimated population of 37, 084 in Hopkins County who have died from COVID-19, according to DSHS case and fatality reports.
Only two other counties in the 8 immediately surrounding Hopkins have had more confirmed COVID-19 deaths, but both have also have a higher population and have had more cumulative cases as well.
In Lamar County, 2,385 of the 49,859 residents (4.78 percent) have tested positive for COVID-19 since March; 65 of the 2,385 COVID-19 positive residents died from the virus. That’s a fatality rate of 2.73 percent among positive cases and 0.13 percent of the total Lamar County population.
In Hunt County, 2,515 residents (2.55 percent) out of an estimated population of 32,750, have tested positive for COVID-19, including 55 residents who died from the novel coronavirus. That’s a fatality rate of 2.19 percent among COVID infected residents and 0.06 percent of the the total population, according to the Nov. 19 DSHS data.
Only neighboring county with a higher fatality percentage among positive cases that Hopkins County as of Nov. 19. Red River County’s fatality rate is 8.37 percent. That’s 18 of the 215 positive cases that have result that resulted in death due to COVID-19. That’s a 1.79 percent positivity rate from among the total estimated population of 12,023 and 0.15 percent fatality rate from the total population in Red River County, which includes Clarksville.
Wood County, which has a population of 45,539 and a positivity rate of 1.84 percent (839 cases), has had 47 COVID fatalities, for a 0.1 fatality rate among the entire population and 5.6 percent among positive cases, according to the DSHS Nov. 19 data.
Delta County had had only 0.84 percent of the estimated population of 5,331 who have tested positive for COVID-19, and no fatalities as of Nov. 19. In fact, all except 5 of the 45 residents who have tested positive since March have recovered from COVID-19, according to the DSHS COVID-19 Case Counts dashboards.
