In the last week, Starr County is reporting they had 325 new cases of COVID-19 within one week and now the county hospital is nearly full, according to Starr County Health Authority Dr. Antonio Falcon.
The 325 new cases were from Dec. 21 through Dec. 28 and included 180 cases from Rio Grande City, 133 from Roma, three from La Grulla, three from Garciasville, two from Falcon Heights, one from Escobares, one from Santa Elena, and two from Salineño.
Of the 325, 71 of the individuals were 18 and younger while 254 were 19 and older.
“Our numbers are probably going to go up before they do down,” Falcon said during a news conference Wednesday.
“The hospital is now very close to full,” Falcon added, referring to Starr County Memorial Hospital. “It wasn’t that long ago that we only had two to three patients at a time and, as of yesterday, they had 12 patients and the emergency room now is reporting about half of their cases have COVID-related symptoms.”
As cases mount, Starr County Judge Eloy Vera continued to urge safety precautions and warned that, for the New Year’s holiday, law enforcement would be patrolling and checking out event halls or venues where people have social gatherings.
“We’ve noticed that a lot of them are not following the orders,” Vera said, “and really the ones that will get fined is the owner of the property for not following the protocol that’s put out by the governor and his order and of course our order also.”
“We don’t want to do this but we’re very concerned with the numbers as the way they’re heading so I feel that we have no choice but to do that,” Vera added.
Last week, Starr County received their first allotments of the COVID-19, receiving approximately 700 doses of the drug manufactured by Moderna.
“That first allowance went very smoothly and without any complications,” Falcon said, adding all the doses were administered.
He noted that the county received a letter from John Hellerstedt, the commissioner for the Texas Department of State Health Services, similar to the letter sent to DHR Health and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
In the letter, according to Falcon, Hellerstadt asked them to vaccinate immediately and that no doses should remain on reserve.
“It recommends that health care workers be vaccinated first and as first priority,” Falcon said, “and immediately and soon after that, 65 and especially 65 and those that have chronic medical conditions.”
Those conditions include cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease such as emphysema and bronchitis, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, solid organ transplant like liver and kidneys, obesity, pregnancy, sickle-cell anemia, and diabetes.
“Many of those that were vaccinated were first responders and healthcare personnel and some that were 65 and over with chronic medical conditions,” Falcon said of the distribution of their first allotment. “We are waiting for a second allotment; we don’t know when that will come in but it looks like we may have about 400 doses coming sometime soon.”
A list of Week 3 vaccine distribution unveiled by the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) states that Starr County will receive 400 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
Of those, 100 doses will be sent to the DSHS clinic in Rio Grande City while 300 will be sent to Starr County Memorial Hospital.
