Positive numbers trend upward

By Donnie A. Lucas

The number of positive cases of COVID-19 continued to rise during the last week, prompting local health care providers to encourage people to get vaccinated.

During the week of Aug. 16-20, the Shackelford County Health Clinic and Resource Care Community Health Center administered 26 tests with nine positive results.

On Monday, Aug. 23, the clinic reported four more positive cases among nine tests given.

Over the last four weeks, a total of 104 tests were conducted at the two local clinics with 32 positive results.

“Locally we have seen an increase in positive cases, with the majority being young to middle aged adults and some children,” nurse practitioner Claire Ware at the hospital district clinic said. “ We have had two breakthrough cases, which are positive COVID-19 tests in individuals who were fully vaccinated for COVID-19, with all other cases being among unvaccinated patients. We have also had a few cases of reinfection within three to four months.  It is recommended to get the ­COVID-19 vaccine even if you have already had COVID-19.”

School nurse Lisa Russell said Tuesday that there had been five positive cases among staff members since Aug. 18 when classes started. Two other individuals are quarantining after having close contact with a family member who tested positive.

Russell said that the most recent guidance from the Texas Education Agency still leaves the decision up to the parents concerning quarantining students who may have had close contact with someone who tests positive.

However, staff members who are not fully vaccinated who have come in close contact with a positive case must now be tested every two days for a 10-day period if they do not self quarantine.

“We will be sending people to the EMS station to be tested since those tests are offered for free,” Russell said. “This is something that just came from TEA this week.”

High school principal Glen Hill said that the secondary campus has not been affected much at this point.

“We have had several calls from parents asking if they should keep their kids at home if they had close contact,” he said. “We are referring those questions to family health care providers. We aren’t qualified to make those decisions.”

Both the hospital clinic and Resource Care have Moderna vaccinations on hand. However, both testing and vaccinations require an appointment.

For free testing appointments at the Shackelford County EMS Station, call 325-762-3313.

To make an appointment for testing or a vaccine, call the Shackelford County Health Clinic at 325-762-3661 or the ResourceCare Community Health Center at 325-762-2447.

Ware provided the following information that was obtained from a medical resource, UpToDate Online.

“Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 greatly lowers your chances of getting infected. And while it’s uncommon to get ­COVID-19 after being vaccinated, if you do get infected, you will be much less likely to get severely ill. For most people, the benefits of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 are much greater than the risks.

“In addition to protecting yourself, getting the vaccine will also help protect other people, including those who are at higher risk of getting very sick or dying. It also protects people who can’t yet get a vaccine, like young children. Even if you are not worried about getting very sick yourself, you could still spread the virus to others, even without realizing it.

“The COVID-19 pandemic will be controlled when there is ‘herd immunity.’ This is when enough people are immune to a disease that it can no longer spread easily. The best way to do this is to vaccinate as many people as possible. If too few people get vaccinated, the virus will keep spreading, and it will take longer for the pandemic to end. If enough people get vaccinated, the virus will have a harder time spreading. When the virus cannot spread easily, new variants are less likely to form.”