July 22, 2020
Bandera County active CoViD-19 cases drops to three
By Jessica Nohealapa'ahi Goode
The Bandera Prophet
Another change in the state’s reporting system shows a significant drop in the overall active CoViD-19 cases. As of yesterday, Bandera County officially has three active cases, 53 recovered, 15 pending and zero deaths.
On July 20, Bandera County had 25 active cases - 22 of those patients had recovered, so the state released them.
“Monday, the recovered count was 27, so it was quite a shock,” County Emergency Management Coordinator Carey Reed said, adding the state is now allowing physicians to release patients. “[The Department of State Health Services (DSHS)] is not doing the investigation because it’s taking them as long as people are recovering to finish a pending investigation. It’s now a time-based system to move people from active to recovered.”
According to a statement from DSHS, “Region 8 has recently asked healthcare providers to give isolation guidance to individuals who are diagnosed with CoViD-19. Additionally, healthcare providers may release CoViD-19 patients from isolation after reviewing a patient’s clinical history and consulting current CDC guidance.”
Reed also said DSHS is no longer including pending investigations in the active count. She said pending investigations that are more than 14 days old are considered recovered.
Reed said the county qualifies for the mask exemption in the governor’s executive order, which excuses counties with less than 20 active cases, however the judge has not yet filed the attestation form.
On July 20, Bandera County had 25 active cases - 22 of those patients had recovered, so the state released them.
“Monday, the recovered count was 27, so it was quite a shock,” County Emergency Management Coordinator Carey Reed said, adding the state is now allowing physicians to release patients. “[The Department of State Health Services (DSHS)] is not doing the investigation because it’s taking them as long as people are recovering to finish a pending investigation. It’s now a time-based system to move people from active to recovered.”
According to a statement from DSHS, “Region 8 has recently asked healthcare providers to give isolation guidance to individuals who are diagnosed with CoViD-19. Additionally, healthcare providers may release CoViD-19 patients from isolation after reviewing a patient’s clinical history and consulting current CDC guidance.”
Reed also said DSHS is no longer including pending investigations in the active count. She said pending investigations that are more than 14 days old are considered recovered.
Reed said the county qualifies for the mask exemption in the governor’s executive order, which excuses counties with less than 20 active cases, however the judge has not yet filed the attestation form.