Milam logs sixth death

It was the worst of times. It was the best of times.

That sums up the past week—Wednesday morning to Wednesday morning—of COVID-19 reports in Milam County.

The death of a Milam resident attributed to the virus was announced Friday night by County Judge Steve Young, the sixth overall.

But the marked decline in new cases of COVID-19 in the county continues, with only 12 added to the cumulative total, the least number of weekly cases since eight were reported for the week ending June 10.

Also during the week, Gov. Greg Abbott relaxed restrictions on the state’s businesses—except for three areas in far South Texas—increasing allowed capacity from 50 to 75 percent.

DEATH—Y o u n g announced Friday that a male resident of Milam County had died at home two days previously, the sixth attributed to the virus since the pandemic began.

Young said the man had tested positive for COVID-19 and was quarantined at home.

“He was not an elderly person,” Young said.

It was the first death from COVID-19 in three weeks, according to the Milam County Health Department.

The county has now logged less than 20 cases in four of the past five weeks.

THE NUMBERS—Here are the numbers for the past week.

• Cumulative cases—488, up from 476.

• Active cases (PCR testing)—18, down from 20.

• Probable cases—51, up from 43.

• Monitored, 63, up from 37.

• Hospitalized, three, down from six.

• Deaths, six, up from fi v e .

TESTING—Free antigen (93 percent) testing continues this week at several locations in the county.

Since some of the locations during the past week utilized the PCR tests, which takes more time to yield results than the quicker antigen test, results for some of the week’s testing were not known at presstime Wednesday morning.

Here is the weekly testing schedule which is expected to continue through the end of the year:

• Wednesday—Milano, 8 a.m. to 12-noon; Gause, 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., Gause Fire Station (tentative).

• Thursday—Cameron, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Cameron Fire Station.

• Friday—Buckholts, 8 a.m. to 12-noon, 111 West Main.

• Monday, Rockdale, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., former Richards Memorial Hospital.

• Tuesday—Thorndale, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Fireman’s Hall.

Tests are for Milam County residents who have displayed symptoms of COVID-19.

“Testing is yielding good results, as evidenced by the dwindling number of confirmed cases,” Young said.