June 22, 2020
Zip Code: 78061
# of New “Investigated” Positive Cases: 1
Exposure Source: Household Spread
Unreported hospitalization or isolation
# of Older Cases Recovered: 13
HOSPITALIZATIONS:
Active Frio Community Case Hospitalizations (all ZIP codes): 3
San Antonio Hospitalization rate since June 8:
In the above San Antonio patient trend graphic, the blue line represents patients hospitalized, the yellow line represents patients in the ICU, and the light green line represents patients on ventilators due to COVID-19 complications.
REPORTING ISSUES:
Today was the second business day since Texas Department of State Health Services started offering two sets of data: “aggregate count” and numbers from completed DSHS investigations. Our tables and charts have been adjusted accordingly. As we move forward, it will become clearer how well DSHS is keeping pace with investigating new cases. Today, DSHS reported:
20 New positive cases, including cases pending investigation
1 New positive case, investigated
However, we received another reporting update today: DSHS will now automatically update patient case status to “recovered” after two weeks. This is problematic for our reporting to the public for a few reasons.
- This is a shift from the recent symptom-based strategy for clearing a patient which was: (a) 3 days with no fever without use of fever-reducing medication and (b) improvement in respiratory symptoms and (c) at least 10 days have passed since symptoms appeared. Two weeks to recovery is merely an average, not a rule.
- Automatically categorizing a patient as “recovered” after two weeks without a confirmation can hardly be described as “investigated.” Therefore, we will soon be changing the header in the “Frio County Community Cases Investigated by DSHS” dashboard table to more accurately reflect the actual circumstances of those numbers.
What does this all mean?
We can’t draw conclusions from a single piece of data, so let’s do some math on the discussed warning indicators:
Positive Cases Rising in Frio +
Hospitalization Rates Spiking in San Antonio +
DSHS investigations past capacity+
Frio County has more than double the active cases of neighboring counties that have half the population=
It’s time to ring the alarm bells.
Practice recommended safety measures: face mask, physical distancing, hand washing.
Pressure your local leaders for concrete plans of action. Consider my local response proposal from the June 15th Frio inter-agency meeting.
Thank you,
Jose Asuncion
County Commissioner, Pct. 4
Also, me from Thursday to today (profanity warning):