Official numbers show only 2 active

By Donnie A. Lucas

The number of confirmed test results for COVID-19 continues to rise, with a cumulative total of 14 positive results as of Monday, compared with nine at the same time last week.

County Judge Robert Skelton received an update on Wednesday morning from the regional office of the Texas Department of Health Services reporting the 14 total positive cases, corrected from 16 confirmed cases reported earlier in the week. According to a state dashboard, 77 tests have been administered.

“Only two of the positive cases were still considered active on Wednesday,” Skelton said. “Twelve are recovered and are no longer monitored.”

The judge said that he has been receiving the weekly updates on Mondays, but requested more frequent reporting to his office by TDHS.

The state agency also hosts the dashboard for all counties in the state. It was noted that totals on the website usually lag behind the official most recent numbers, as evidenced by the fact that there were seven “new” cases, but only four were active.

“We need to continue to use good judgment and do the best we possibly can to limit exposure to ourselves and to others,” Skelton said. 

The judge also clarified that the county would need to reach a total of 20 active cases to fall under the face covering requirements set by the governor earlier in the month.

There had been some confusion if the governor’s order became effective when the cumulative total number of cases reached 20 or whether it was 20 currently active cases in the county.

Albany mayor Susan Montgomery thanked local residents for cooperating to help contain the spread of the virus.

“I have seen more people wearing masks in the last week,” she said. “I truly want to thank those people for being good citizens.”

She added that several businesses have started requiring employees to wear masks when interacting with the public.

“That tells customers that a business is concerned about their health and the health of their employees,” she said. “That just continues to provide for a safer environment for us all.”

Montgomery renewed her plea asking residents to be considerate of others by wearing a face covering in public even though it is not required.

Albany schools reported this week that school will start on campus as planned on Aug. 19. 

Likewise, the UIL also announced that smaller schools in Class 1A through 4A will be able to start extracurricular activities including sports on the originally planned dates.

“This is huge news for us as a community that school and all the activities will be starting up soon,” Montgomery said. “This is very positive for the community, but we want to be even more diligent about not spreading the virus by doing everything possible to prevent that from happening.”