The Brazos County Health District updated the public on COVID-19 at a June 15 press conference.
Brazos County Health Authority Dr. Seth Sullivan began with the latest numbers. The current statistics in Brazos County are as follows: 821 total confirmed cases, 296 recovered patients, 500 active cases, 20 hospitalizations, 25 deaths and 10,580 total tests performed. Listed below are some of the main topics of the conference.
1. Where we stand
The current positivity rate, meaning the percentage of those who get tested that are positive for COVID-19, is at 10 percent. The percentage of positive cases is higher in Brazos County than the state of Texas as a whole and the city of Houston. Brazos County now has approximately 3.4 positive cases for every 1,000 citizens, but less than Dallas’s 5.9.
Sullivan added that in the past week, three additional patients have died from COVID-19, who were in their 50s, 70s and 90s respectively. Last week, the number of cases increased by 155 and 80 percent of the confirmed cases are the result of community spread. Additionally, Sullivan said 64 percent of the total deaths in the county were from assisted living facilities.
“We have a challenge keeping up with the number of cases that are being faxed in right now to the Brazos County Health District,” Sullivan said. “These are community spread, make no mistake about it. This is not because of wide testing campaigns. This is because of the community spread of this virus in Brazos County.”
2. Citizens in Brazos County should take responsibility
Sullivan said practicing proper hygiene and wearing masks are some of the best ways for people to protect themselves from the virus, especially with the recent increase in the number of cases.
“There must be a balance as we open our economy that we continue to take personal responsibility for all of the things that we’ve been talking about over these past several months with respect to the way this virus transmits,” Sullivan said.
3. Local gatherings and businesses update
Some local high school graduations will be taking place with precautions, according to Sullivan. All students are required to wear masks and the attendees are strongly urged to do so as well.
Brazos County Judge Duane Peters said they did expect the increase in cases with the opening of the economy and the county must continue moving forward safely.
“If we don’t [move forward], not only our state, but our country could collapse,” Peters said. “It’s a personal responsibility that we should all try to do everything we can to keep from spreading the disease.”