San Saba's COVID-19 count increases for third straight week

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San Saba county is now up to five cases of COVID-19 with two cases being in the City of San Saba.

Dr. Craig Whiting, the Texas Department of State Health Services Local Health Authority, was contacted last week for an update on COVID-19 case counts in San Saba county.

First, Dr. Whiting reported that as of Wednesday, June 24th, Texas Department of State Health Services’ active COVID-19 count for San Saba county was four. He added, however, that only three of the people living in San Saba county have tested positive for COVID-19. Dr. Whiting stated, “the fourth case is a person who lives and works in Dallas, although they have a residence in San Saba county.” He noted that the case was added to our county by the state even though the person does not actually live here, nor has he recently been in our county.

Dr. Whiting was questioned as to how many of the other three San Saba cases live within the city limits. He stated, “two are residents of the city of San Saba and one lives in the southern portion of the county, not within any city limits.”

Next, a question was posed to Dr. Whiting concerning the first three positive cases (the San Saba Nursing Home and Rehabilitation employee, a ranch worker in Cherokee, and a young female within the city limits): were they still under quarantine or categorized as “recovered”? Dr. Whiting responded with "while we don’t have any repeat testing to prove resolution of any of these three cases, nonetheless two of the infected individuals have complete or near complete resolution of symptoms and have finished their 14-day quarantines – it is likely that these two are recovered.”

Previously in talking with Dr. Whiting on Monday, June 22nd, he had relayed to me there were those who were in contact with the third person testing positive, and they were isolating until test results on them could be obtained. Dr. Whiting then reported on June 24th, “All San Saba county residents who are close contacts of the cases have been tested, and so far, none have been positive.”

When questioned if any San Saba businesses had any infected employees, Dr. Whiting answered, “None of the cases in San Saba county involve an employee of a business with public access, such as a restaurant or retail store.”

According to Dr. Whiting, none of San Saba's positive cases required hospitalization. He stated, "There are no San Saba county residents with COVID-19 who have required hospitalization, and there are no COVID-19 associated deaths.”

In conclusion of the email interview, the last inquiry included: “As our local health authority here in San Saba, is there anything else you would like to say to the public concerning COVID-19?” The following is Dr. Whiting's response:

“The presence of this corona virus in our county is undoubtedly more widespread than these numbers indicate because, fortunately, it is common for this infection to be mild and self-limited so many have almost certainly been infected without having serious symptoms or perhaps with few if any symptoms. Nonetheless it can be deadly. In fact, from the numbers that we are seeing worldwide, it appears that COVID-19 is much more likely to cause serious illness and death for those infected than does influenza. This is especially true for high-risk individuals (age >60, hypertensive, diabetic, obese, immunocompromised), but it also kills children, adolescents and young adults.”

Dr. Whiting continued, “While it’s uncomfortable, you can help protect these vulnerable people in our community by wearing a mask when you are in a public place when you cannot maintain a safe distance. This is an act of kindness and consideration – like a gift – that you can give to your neighbors, friends, family and strangers. And by protecting others, we help protect ourselves.”

Before this article could be published, Dr. Whiting contacted me to let me know the case count had changed for San Saba.

On Sunday, June 28th, Dr. Whiting wrote in his email that another case of COVID-19 had been identified in San Saba from a test done two days prior. He stated this person lives in the county, outside of any city limits. “It is community-acquired (relative visiting from a high prevalence area),” he noted. He went on to say the only close contact is a household member who tested negative.

Dr. Whiting concluded by saying, “the person is not employed in public access business.”

While we can’t control many things around us, we can control our choices. So, as Dr. Whiting said, be kind and considerate to those around you: keep your distance when you can, wear a mask when you can’t.