Record Covid-19 cases, deaths in county reported
The Wichita Falls-Wichita County Public Health Unit reported record numbers of new COVID-19 infections and deaths again this week, almost eight months after the first case was diagnosed in Wichita County.
As of Tuesday evening, the health unit reported 23 deaths due to COVID in the previous seven-day reporting period. In addition, 674 new cases of COVID were confirmed in Wichita County since last Wednesday.
With Texas becoming the first state in the country to reach one million cases, Amy Fagan, Assistant Director of Health for the Wichita County Health Unit, said Wichita County is a reflection of what we are currently seeing in Texas.
“The general consensus is a pretty explosive growth in cases,” Fagan said. “It’s concerning. Wichita County was in a good place in the summer, and if you look at all the data, around September the cases just grew at an alarming rate.”
The health department reported five deaths of Wichita County residents Wednesday (Nov. 4); three on Thursday, 11 on Monday; and four deaths Tuesday, bringing the total of Wichita County residents who have died from the novel Coronavirus to 83.
Currently there are 1,902 active cases of COVID in Wichita County, a record high.
As of Tuesday the number of COVID patients in Wichita County hospitals has dropped from 78 Wichita County residents last week to 67 Tuesday evening, 17 of those in critical condition.
302 recoveries of Wichita County residents were also recorded in the last week.
Last Friday evening, the health unit reported that the Iowa Park zip code had 86 active cases, five percent of those in the county. Of the Iowa Park numbers, two were listed as inmates at the Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice Allred Unit. The health unit releases totals by zip code each Friday, and the Iowa Park Leader posts the results each week to social media so local residents can be informed more quickly. According to last Friday’s report Wichita County listed a 19.64 percent infection rate of those tested for the week.
As of Tuesday evening, a total of 36,103 Wichita County residents had been tested for COVID-19, with 4,966 of those positive since March 18. Of those, 2,981 have recovered. The number of tests pending was 795 as of Tuesday evening.
With the holidays approaching, Fagan urged Wichita County residents to change how they think ofgatherings, in an effort to keep infections down.
“We need to not be afraid to have conversations about if someone doesn’t feel well, and change plans if need be.” Fagan continued, “People also need to be cognizant of what the symptoms really are.”
FREE TESTING
Due to the high percentage of cases locally, free drive-through testing is now being offered by WellHealth through the end of the year in the parking lot of the MPEC Center in Wichita Falls. The hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Fagan said a good number of people are already taking advantage of the free service
Iowa Park CISD
The Iowa Park school district had zero reports of new student or staff COVID infections since last Wednesday.
The latest information on hospitalizations released by the WFWC Public Health District include:
Total Hospitalizations = 64
0-5
No hospitalizations
6-10
No hospitalizations
11-19
No hospitalizations
20 - 29
Stable - 1
30 - 39
Stable - 2
40 - 49
Stable - 1
50 - 59
Stable - 4
Critical - 3
60 - 69
Stable - 13
Critical - 9
70 - 79
Stable - 15
Critical - 5
80+
Stable - 11
