Five additional COVID-19 fatalities, 9 new cases and four recoveries were reported for Hopkins County in the Texas Department of State Health Services Jan. 9 COVID-19 dashboard for Texas Case Counts.
Case Counts and Fatalities
A total of 1,217 molecular COVID-19 cases have been reported for Hopkins County since March, which means two additional Hopkins County residents received lab-confirmed molecular COVID-19 test results as of 2:15 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9. The week ends with 86 total new COVID-19 cases reported for Hopkins County and the month with 95 new cases, according to DSHS Jan. 9 COVID-19 dashboard for Texas Case Counts.
Seven additional Hopkins County residents are reported to be “probable cases” of COVID-19, that people who tested positive through an antigen test or have a combination of symptoms and a known exposure to someone with COVID-19 without a more likely diagnosis. Thirty-five probable cases were reported this week and 68 new probable cases this month. Cumulatively, since the state began tracking probable cases, Hopkins County has had 1,185 probable cases.
Combined, that’s nine new novel coronavirus 2019 cases reported Jan. 9, 123 new cases this week and 163 new cases reported so far this month.
The DSHS Jan. 9 COVID-19 Texas Case Counts Dashboard showed 78 Hopkins County COVID-19 fatalities since the pandemic began in March, which means five additional Hopkins County residents were confirmed Jan. 9 by death certificate to have died from COVID-19. That’s a fatality rate of 0.21 percent of the overall population in Hopkins County. The fatality rate among Hopkins County COVID-19 cases, however, is 3.25 percent.
Four additional Hopkins County residents are reported to have recovered from COVID-19 on Saturday, Jan. 9, for a total of 54 recoveries this week and 68 recoveries so far this month. Cumulatively, 2,107 of the 2,402 Hopkins County residents who’ve had COVID-19 are reported to have recovered from the virus. That leaves 217 active COVID-19 cases at 2:15 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, the same as on Friday because the deaths and recoveries matched the new case count.
Testing Reports
A total of 15,274 COVID-19 tests have been performed in Hopkins County, including 12,292 viral or molecular tests, 1,307 antigen tests and 1,674 antibody tests. That means 84 more COVID-19 tests were performed in Hopkins County on Friday, 51 viral tests, 33 antigen tests and one antibody test on Friday.
That’s 691 total COVID-19 tests conducted this week: 497 viral tests, 107 antigen tests and 87 antibody tests performed this week in Hopkins County, according to the DSHS Jan. 9 COVID-19 Test and Hospital Data dashboard.
Free oral swab (molecular) COVID-19 testing will continue to be offered from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays in January inside the Red Cross (old Fidelity Express Building) in Sulphur Springs. Free testing is open to anyone regardless of age or address. Registration is required online at www.GoGetTested.com in order to be tested at 128-A Jefferson Street in Sulphur Springs.
Hospital Reports
COVID-19 hospitalizations continued to rise on Friday, Dec. 8, as did all hospitalizations in Trauma Service Area F, which includes hospitals across an eight county region that spans from Hopkins north to the Oklahoma border and east to Bowie County, with the exception of Franklin County, which is in Trauma Service Area G.
Trauma Service Area F hospitals were treating 240 COVID-19 patients on Friday, which is five more than the previous high for COVID patients. Eleven more hospital beds were staffed throughout the region for a total of 1,065 staffed beds in TSA-F. That includes 11 additional staffed inpatient beds, which numbered 973 on Jan. 8, and left a total of 315 hospital beds available throughout TSA-F on Jan. 8, according to the DSHS Jan. 9 COVID-19 Test and Hospital Data dashboard.
Overall, COVID-19 hospitalizations made up 22.54 percent of the total hospital capacity in TSA-F on Jan. 8, up from 22.32 percent one day before. That makes 14 consecutive days in which COVID-19 hospitalizations made up at 15 percent or more of the total hospital capacity in TSA-F. Because of the continued high hospitalizations, many businesses including retail and restaurants in five of the eight counties in TSA-F and 16 other TSAs in Texas have been subject to GA-32. TSA-F, per the Governor’s Executive Order, had for 7 consecutive days had high hospitalizations and on Jan. 2 were required to scale back capacity from 75 to 50 percent. TSA’F’s hospitalizations have remained above 15 percent since then. In order to reopen at 75 percent occupancy, TSA-F’s COVID-19 hospitalizations have to be below the 15 percent threshold for seven consecutive days.
