By MIKE BROWN Reporter Editor
It was the best of weeks; it was the worse of weeks.
While active COVID-19 cases in Milam County fell to their lowest number in almost two months, and the rate of new cases continued to slow, the county recorded its third death.
County Judge Steve Young said the third Milam death since the pandemic began happened last Wednesday and it happened quickly.
“This was an individual who had tested positive about one week previously,” Young said, “The person’s symptoms became worse and the individual died before getting to a hospital.”
Previous Milam County COVID-19 deaths were recorded July 10 and April 20.
On Monday, Young unveiled a plan to bring “quick testing” to the county, citing the lag between testing and results as a hindrance for both persons being tested and the Milam County Health Department, as the area continues its battle against the potentially deadly disease.
ACTIVE DROP-The most dramatic good news during the week came in the sizable drop in active cases which went from 44 to 25 as of early Wednesday.
During the week active cases dropped to as low as 15 on Sunday.
That’s the lowest active case count since 14 were reported on June 18, seven weeks ago.
Young said 15 persons were removed from the active list over the past weekend.
Cumulative cases increased by 35 from 297 to 332. That marks the second consecutive week for new cases to decline.
Last Wednesday morning the virus tally showed an increase of 36, far short of the 69 recorded the previous week.
The past week’s 35 new cases marks the lowest number of new cases since 17 were recorded for the week ending July 1.
As of Wednesday morning there were 10 “probable” cases of COVID-19—tested positive in the Antigen test but not yet confirmed in the more accurate PCR Test.
The county health department is monitoring 50 persons.
There are three Milam residents in hospitals, down one from last week. Young said one person has been in serious condition for about a month. That person is on a ventilator.
Results during the week were scrambled because a state computer system, which generates results for distribution to counties was down for maintenance during the weekend.
That led to no new cases being reported over the weekend.
However, 13 new cases were added on Monday, reflecting some of the positive tests which would have been included in weekend reports.
TESTING—Young told commissioners Monday one of the key needs in Milam County is for more testing with quicker test results and he is working on obtaining them.
“One of the big problems we’ve been having is the time it takes, sometimes weeks, to get test results back,” he said. “You can see what that means.”
“Suppose I think I have symptoms today and get tested,” he said. “I may not get a result back for a week or more. So what do I do during that week? Do I go to work. Do I quarantine myself?”
“And what if I’ve gone to work for that week and it comes back positive?” he continued. “Can the health department find all the people I’ve come into contact with and track them?”
He noted the lag time also makes the health department’s job more difficult in quarantining those testing positive and tracing persons.
Young said he is in contact with an entity which will sell tests to the county for $3 each.
One thousand tests are being ordered.
“These will have to be administered by a qualified person then brought to a lab,” he said. “You put the sample in a petri dish (used to culture cells), treat it and you find out if it’s positive or negative. We can have the results in as little as 15 minutes, certainly by the end of the day. We can call that person that day with the results.”
Young said he envisions a lab set up in Cameron and testing being done by a nurse and assistant in fire stations throughout the county.”
FREE TESTS—Young said the tests would be free.
He told commissioners it’s envisioned the county would use some of its $610,000 in federal CARES Act funding—which must be spent on anti-COVID programs— for the tests.
Young said previously, the county had intended to use virtually all that money to renovate part of the former Cameron Hospital Professional Building into an urgent care center.
Young said each city in Milam County has agreed to use CARES Act funds to assist in the testing program.
He expressed appreciation to Rockdale Mayor John King, Cameron Mayor Bill Harris, Milano Mayor Karl Westbrook, Thorndale Mayor George Galbreath and Buckholts Mayor Terri Eaton, and their respective city councils, for assistance in funding the project.
“We had a meeting of the county mayors to discuss the testing project and there was some concern about doing these tests through the county and not through the clinics here which are already offering tests,” Young said.
“But, since this is being obtained through the CARES Act, even if we let the clinics test, instead of doing it publicly, they would still have to be free and the clinics would not get anything from it,” he said.
He said Milam County commissioners also provided support.
Young said it is hoped testing can begin by Sept. 1.
“We have got only until the end of the year to get all these tests done,” he said. “It is a requirement of the CARES Act that all the money be spent by Jan. 1, 2021.”
‘PROGRESS’—“I believe we are making progress in the fight,” Young said.
He credited Milam County residents with wearing masks as a key factor. “Thanks to everyone who is doing that. We appreciate your efforts and please keep complying.”
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