Cases continue to rise even as new vaccine rolls out
Bosque County Emergency Management Coordinator Chris Anderson told commissioners he solved the disconnect regarding reported COVID-19 numbers on the Texas DSHS website.
“The active case count from the county and the state is overemphasized by probable cases,” Anderson said Monday.
“It’s showing 131 active cases and of those, 95 are probable. So the actual number for active cases in the county is 36. They are putting the probable numbers on the active counts, but they’re not putting it on the totals,” he said.
As of Monday morning, the county reported 37 active cases of COVID-19.
According to the DSHS website, 710 cases have been confirmed, 95 are probable and approximately 658 have recovered. Deaths rose to 17, up one from previous weeks.
“I am also getting numbers from DSHS for numbers of vaccinated individuals in the county,” said Anderson. “Last week we were sitting at 42, and as of this morning we are at 108.
Brookshire Brothers Pharmacy in Meridian continues its efforts to doll out the allotment of COVID-19 vaccines received last month.
“Our pharmacists are diligently working to handle the enormous demands from people wanting to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” Director of Clinical Pharmacy Programs Laura Edmondson said.
“Our pharmacy in Meridian just began giving vaccines [last] week to the state’s first-priority group of healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities,” Edmundson told the Meridian Tribune.
Once the healthcare population and residents of long-term care facilities have been vaccinated, Edmundson says pharmacies can move on to people over 65 and adults with chronic conditions.
The transition between the groups will vary between locations, “and because the state did not put a specific plan in place regarding the distribution of the vaccine, each pharmacy is executing its own plan according to the specific needs of their communities. Right now, there are more names on the waiting list than there are doses available,” she continued.
“We are thrilled to provide the COVID-19 vaccine to the communities we serve,” Edmundson said. “We recognize there are many long days and weeks ahead of us; however, we have the utmost confidence in our pharmacists and their dedication to protecting the members of our communities.”
Anyone seeking additional information about the COVID-19 vaccine, how it is being distributed and when it will be available to the general public can visit brookshirebrothers.com/ COVID-19.
Goodall-Witcher reported as of Monday they had tested 5,550 individuals 4,097 of those came back negative and 698 were positive, while one was pending.
During Monday’s meeting, commissioners voted to extend the Federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act sick leave benefits, which were set to expire on Dec. 31, 2020.
“We have requested to extend sick leave until June of 2021 so we can get to a point where we can all get vaccinated and get past COVID,” said Benefits Coordinator Darcie Ragsdale.
Under the FFCRA, certain employers are required to provide employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons relating to COVID-19.
The extension of FFCRA would add no additional leave time, but would be extended benefits for those who have yet to use theirs and are just now starting to see the effects of COVID in their families.