Decline continues in active county cases, but deaths rise

New COVID-19 infections in Wichita County dropped to 322 in the past week, the lowest weekly reported number since early October. In contrast, 29 deaths were also reported in the past week.

In addition, the Wichita Falls Wichita County Health District reported 764 recoveries in the past week ending Tuesday evening, and hospitalizations again dropped to 83 this week with 18 of those reported to be in critical condition.

On the lower number of cases, Wichita County Health Director Lou Kreidler said, “I think the thing that is happening is we are past our Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year, where we saw the explosion of numbers from where people were having get-togethers. We’re on the downhill side of what the holiday season did for us. I hope we continue to see the downward trend in cases.”

“(We need to) Continue doing the things that we’re doing. Just because the case numbers are down, don’t let your guard down,” Kreidler continued. “The variant strain is in Texas, as close as the Dallas area.”

The Wichita County Health District has held two successful vaccine clinics, and continue to work through their waiting list, according to Kreidler, who said, “We are getting vaccines in people’s arms.”

This week, the Health District was the only entity to receive a shipment of vaccines in Wichita County, and they transferred those out to community partners to use. Kreidler said the vaccines were transferred out on the basis of how many they could vaccinate in a week, and were allocated to Electra Memorial Hospital, United Regional Healthcare Clinics of North Texas and the Community Healthcare Center. Those eligible on those provider’s waiting lists will hear from the provider if there is an available vaccine.

Kreidler said the Health District is receiving numerous calls and questions regarding the district’s waiting list and the availability to sign up to be on the list.

Currently the Health District has temporarily paused wait list sign ups as the district is working to transition to an online format. According to Kreidler, the original list was around 7,000 people and the health district will likely not be able to vaccinate everyone on the list before transitioning to the online system. They are asking Wichita County residents to not call the Health District requesting appointments, as they are scheduling through their current waiting lists and will contact those individuals directly.

It is very important that if you are on the list for the health district that you answer the call as they will not leave a message, but instead go to the next person. They will try again, but not necessarily on the same day.

Vaccinations

In Wichita County, 9,724 people have received their first dose of the COVID vaccine; and 1,788 have received their second dose.

Deaths stemming from the novel Coronavirus in Wichita County from January 20-26 rose, with deaths recorded in the following age groups: 30-39 - two; 40-49 - one; 60-69 - eleven; 70-79 - six; and 80-89 - nine. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Wichita County now stands at 281.

Each Friday the health district releases an overview of active cases in the county by zip code. Iowa Park last week had 221 active cases, which accounted for nine percent of the active cases in the county. We report that information each Friday after it’s release on the Iowa Park Leader FaceBook page. The same week tallied a total of 2,443 active cases, with a 12.77 percent positivity rate among those tested.

Thus far, a total of 78,359 Wichita County residents had been tested for COVID-19, with 13,731 of those positive since March 18, 2020. Of those, 10,339 have recovered. The number of tests pending Tuesday evening was 51.

FREE TESTING CONTINUES

Due to the high percentage of cases locally, free drive-through testing is now being offered by WellHealth indefinitely 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.

Wichita County New Covid Cases by Month

March 38

April 27

May 19

June 279

July 539

August 422

September 548

October 2,194

November 3,054

Dec. 3,927

(Thru Jan. 26) 2,684

Total cases reported 13,731

“We are getting vaccines in people’s arms.”

– Lou Kreidler, County Health Director