Local health officials brace for rough Christmas holiday
COVID-19 cases in Wichita County continue to rise this week, with 838 cases reported by the Wichita Falls-Wichita County Health Unit since last Tuesday (Nov. 24), as well as 15 deaths.
This comes at a time when Wichita County health officials are concerned that December will hold even more record numbers of new infections as well as hospitalizations at a time when local hospitals are already stressed.
During Tuesday morning’s Wichita Falls City Counciling, Wichita County Health Director Lou Kreidler presented estimates based on the latest trends on both the number of new cases per week and peak hospitalization forecasts by the end of December. Kreidler told those in attendance that based on those two things, with no changes the health district is projecting an estimate of 1,150 new cases per week, and hospitalizations could rise as high as 130 COVID-19 patients per day by month’s end. She told the council that if cases rise that high, it would exceed the capacity to conduct case investigation in its current form.
As of Tuesday evening, the number of COVID patients in Wichita County hospitals sat at 98, with 24 of those listed in critical condition.
The health department reported the deaths of Wichita County residents to COVID-19 in the following age groups during the past week: Age 50-59 - One; 60- 69 - Six; 70-79 - Two; and 80-89 - Six. Since March, 137 Wichita County residents have died as a result of the virus.
In addition, the county reported a 42 percent infection rate among those tested last week, which had doubled from the previous week. Currently there are 2,639 active cases of COVID in Wichita County.
During the past week, the county also reported 642 recoveries.
During an interview Tuesday afternoon, Kreidler said of the current situation, “I think once we see some vaccine approval and distribution, it won’t be a panacea, but it will be better.”
“I encourage people to start thinking of different ways to celebrate Christmas,” She continued. “Instead of a gift exchange with friends, find out what their favorite charity is and donate to that charity. Then Zoom, or FaceTime or Skype and visit remotely.”
As of Tuesday evening, a total of 44,003 Wichita County residents had been tested for COVID-19, with 7,299 of those positive since March 18. Of those, 4,523 have recovered. The number of tests pending Tuesday evening was 755.
Iowa Park CISD
The Iowa Park school district provided an update since Thankgiving week and this week, reporting that five staff members, two Bradford students, three W.F. George Middle School students and three IPHS students have tested positive for COVID-19. Superintendent Steve Moody said no notifications were sent out since some were during Thanksgiving break and others from this week have not been in the schools.
FREE TESTING CONTINUES
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.
HOSPITAL NEARING CAPACITY
Last week, United Regional Healthcare System announced that with the substantial increase in COVID patients over the past few weeks, they are operating at or near full critical care capacity with both COVID and non-COVID patients. Because of that, they submitted a request on November 19 for additional staffing and resources from the Texas Department of State Health Services.
“We are on the cusp of a community and regional crisis,” said Phyllis Cowling, President and CEO of United Regional. “We have reached a point where we’ve had to decline critical care patients from rural hospitals simply due to the lack of available staff.”
United Regional requested additional staff members including critical care registered nurses (RNs), non-critical care RNs, and respiratory therapists. They have been notified they will likely receive between 50- 60 temporary staff, which will be contracted through the state of Texas.
“As the local COVID cases continue to rise, we too have seen an increase in the number of COVID positive or quarantined employees,” said Jacky Betts, Director of Trauma, Acute Care Surgery and Emergency Management at United Regional. “The addition of contracted health care workers from the State will help alleviate some of the strain we are experience with staffing capacity.”
With the state’s staffing resources, United Regional expects to expand their critical care capacity by converting one of their progressive care units into a temporary critical care unit.
A tent allocated from the state was assembled last week outside the emergency department, and will serve as an extension of the hospital. It is initially being used to provide outpatient infusion therapy for patients receiving Bamlanivimab (a specific antibody treatment for COVID-19), but hospital officials say it could be repurposed for other patient care needs as the local situation evolves.
The latest information on hospitalizations released by the WFWC Public Health District include:
Hospitalizations = 98
0-5
No hospitalizations
6-10
No hospitalizations
11-19 No hospitalizations
20 - 29
Stable - 1
Critical - 1
30 - 39
Stable - 1
40 - 49
Stable - 6
Critical - 2
50 - 59
Stable - 8
Critical - 6
60 - 69
Stable - 14
Critical - 7
70 - 79
Stable - 23
Critical - 6
80+
Stable - 21
Critical - 2
Wichita County New Covid Cases by Month
(First case reported here March 18)
March 38
April 27
May 19
June 279
July 539
August 422
September 548
October 2,194
November 3,054
Dec. (thru Dec. 1) 179
Total cases reported 7,299
“I think once we see some vaccine approval and distribution, it won’t be a panacea, but it will be better.”
– Lou Kreidler, County Health Director
