Maverick County Facing COVID-19 Surge Post-Thanksgiving Holiday, 200 Fatalities Reported by DSHS
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2021
As the United States is undergoing its highest number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities per day since the start of the pandemic with 266,187 confirmed positive cases and 4,033 fatalities reported on Thursday, January 7, 2021, Maverick County is no exception as it is facing a surge of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and fatalities since the Thanksgiving holiday.
At the end of November 2020, Maverick County reported a cumulative total of 4,883 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and 150 fatalities. But one month after Thanksgiving, Maverick County reported a cumulative total of 6,437 confirmed positive cases and 161 fatalities as of December 30, 2020, a significant increase of 1,554 confirmed positive cases and 11 fatalities.
The new year of 2021 has continued the post-Thanksgiving surge of confirmed COVID-19 infections with 599 new positive cases and three additional fatalities in the first week of January, bringing the total cumulative to 7,036 confirmed positive cases and 164 fatalities as of Thursday, January 7, 2021.
However, the local Maverick County Emergency Operation Center (EOC) has a discrepancy in the total number of fatalities with the Texas Department of State Health Services, the official COVID-19 tracker in the state. Maverick County EOC reports a total of 164 fatalities while the Texas DSHS reports a total of 200 fatalities, a difference of 36 fatalities. Maverick County Judge David R. Saucedo stated in an interview with the Eagle Pass Business Journal that he does not know where the Texas DSHS comes up with the higher fatalities’ rate than the Maverick County EOC. Judge Saucedo noted that the Maverick County EOC fatalities’ total is based on the number of Death Certificates received to date.
Since the Texas DSHS is the official COVID-19 tracking agency in the state, the official total number of fatalities in Maverick County is 200 as of January 7, 2021. The Maverick County EOC has not adjusted its fatalities’ rate with the Texas DSHS, preferring to use its lower rate.
A recent study by AdvisorSmith found that Maverick County residents had the highest percentage of taking long-distance trips of 100 miles or longer (per 100 residents) than any other county in Texas and having the fourth highest nationally among all mid-size counties with a population of 25,000 through 100,000. The AdvisorSmith study found that 10.6 percent of Maverick County residents took long-distance trips of 100 miles or longer during the Thanksgiving holiday compared to the national average of 4.7 percent. The higher the number of residents who take long-distance trips of 100 miles or longer, the higher the number of COVID-19 infections occur within a community. Maverick County has experienced a surge of COVID-19 infections since Thanksgiving, growing into January 2021 and expected to worsen with the additional Christmas and New Year holiday travel.
On Monday, January 4, 2021, Maverick County reported 159 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and one new fatality.
On Tuesday, January 5, 2021, Maverick County reported 184 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and no new fatality.
On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, Maverick County reported 144 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and one new fatality.
On Thursday, January 7, 2021, Maverick County reported 112 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and one new fatality.
Maverick County public health authorities request that all Maverick County residents follow the CDC Guidelines of wearing a face mask, wash hands with soap regularly, use hand sanitizer regularly, practice social distancing of six feet or greater, avoid gatherings of 10 or more people, limit travel to essential matters only, and to stay home in order to slow the community spread of COVID-19.
