The Brazos County Health District (BCHD) hosted a press conference on June 22 to update the public on the coronavirus.
As usual, Brazos County Health Authority Dr. Seth Sullivan started with the latest numbers. There have been 1,260 total positive cases, 608 recovered patients, 25 deaths and 12,318 total tests performed in Brazos county. Additionally, there are currently 627 active cases and 31 hospitalizations in the county. Below are some of the main takeaways from the conference.
Spike in current cases
Sullivan said just in the last week, 379 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, 46 percent of which were in the age range of 18 to 24. With the rise in case numbers, Sullivan said prevention measures in businesses must be followed.
“There must be a balance between reopening the economy and preventing the further spread of COVID-19,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan also commented on the fact that the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has been closing down bars that are overcrowded and not following the proper Open Texas guidelines.
“Alcohol permits can be suspended for 30 days if the establishment is not following the capacity guidelines,” Sullivan said. “The number of cases continues to increase in our community at an unacceptable rate. We must be accountable for our actions.”
Emergency response system
According to Sullivan, the increase in cases has placed a burden on the local response teams and healthcare employees. He said with this comes the delay in patients receiving test results and further difficulty reporting the positive results to the BCHD. As a result, Sullivan said it will become difficult to perform contact tracing. This process is how the BCHD “boxes in” cases.
“That is that ‘boxing it in’ phenomenon,” Sullivan said. “This is an upstream phenomenon. We have seen a lot of individuals at urgent cares and emergency rooms this past week and into the weekend.”
Be aware of fake treatments
Sullivan said to look out for fake treatments claiming to have some effect on the virus, because none of those claims have been backed up by any government health organization thus far. He said the only at-home treatment to the virus is rest, hydration and possibly some over-the-counter products such as Tylenol.
“Fraudulent products that claim to cure, to treat, to prevent COVID-19, these have not been evaluated by the FDA for safety, therefore effectiveness,” Sullivan said. “So, they may be dangerous.”
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