THE WEEK OF JULY 31-AUGUST 6
Texas Department of State Health Services reported:
64 New Covid Cases in Frio County(81 New Covid Cases were reported the week prior)
Active cases decreased by: 4
Recovered cases increased by: 67
The disparity between new, active and recovered cases indicates a lag in reporting by DSHS. Cases were not added to the State of Texas Covid Dashboard until they were already recovered.
Fatalities Increase: 1
Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported:
22 New GEO Pearsall Detainee Covid Cases
87 New CoreCivic Dilley Detainee Covid Cases
24 New La Quinta Pearsall Detainee Covid Cases
Frio County Vaccination Rate:
Frio County’s Fully Vaccinated Rate (age 12+) increased 1.78% for the week.
The prior week’s increase was 2.15%, which represents a decrease in the rate of full vaccinations.
Vaccinated with at least one dose (12+), a better indicator of recent vaccine activity, increased 2.56%.
The prior week’s increase was 2.95%, which represents a decrease in this second metric: vaccinated with at lease one dose.
These two numbers graphed together show that delta variant reports have had little impact on recent vaccine numbers in Frio County.
COVID Hospitalizations out of Total Region P Hospital Capacity:
Meanwhile, as vaccination rates decrease in Frio, there has been an increase in the rate of COVID Hospitalizations out of Total Region P Hospital Capacity. Frio is one of 22 counties in Region P.
“COVID Hospitalizations out of Total Region P Hospital Capacity” increased by 4.8% to 15.08%.
The prior week’s increase was 3.78%
The 15% threshold line shows the point that formerly triggered the limiting the capacity of certain businesses and bars after seven days. During this wave of the pandemic, however, that order has been rescinded. Given that many of these businesses need to stay open to survive, and we now have the availability of vaccines, the 15% threshold has been lifted by Governor Abbott.
Adding pressure in the near future, school starts on Monday in Pearsall, and the following week in Dilley. Some of the updated guidance from the Texas Education Agency:
COVID Hospitalizations out of Total Region P Hospital Capacity is a crucial metric because each data point paints only one part of the picture. On any given day, the case counts at the top of this post may be misleading without taking into account positivity rate, trends over time, reporting delays, and numerous other factors. Hospitalizations, on the other hand, are reported in a timely and uniform fashion, and represent a clear result.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice Reported:
TDCJ’s Briscoe Unit in Dilley, recently emptied for conversion to an immigrant jail, has not shown an increase in “Offender Active” Covid cases yet. However, it is unclear if TDCJ will report the same Covid data since the Briscoe unit will transition from a state prison to immigrant jail: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/21/texas-prison-immigrant-jail-briscoe/
–written by Jose Asuncion, Frio County Commissioner, Pct. 4