Final weekly Amarillo COVID-19 report card notes 233 active cases

From Staff Reports
·4 min read

After more than three years, the Amarillo Public Health Department (APHD) has released its final weekly COVID-19 update for the area.

"May 11 marked the end of the federal Covid public health emergency (PHE). This doesn’t mean that Covid is over, but the end of the emergency declaration brought about changes to Covid data collection, reporting and surveillance across the country," APHD said in a news release. "The The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stopped tabulating community levels of Covid and no longer requires reporting of certain case information from hospitals or tests from laboratories."

The final COVID-19 report card released by the Amarillo Public Health Department contains numbers for the week of May 11-17.
The final COVID-19 report card released by the Amarillo Public Health Department contains numbers for the week of May 11-17.

As part of these changes, APHD is discontinuing the weekly COVID-19 report card following this week’s report. Since March 2020 and with slight revisions over time, the report card has tracked levels of COVID-19 spread, hospital capacity status and overall data in Potter and Randall counties "to keep citizens informed to be able to make the best decisions for themselves and their families."

APHD said it will continue to use metrics, such as hospitalization and wastewater data, to protect the health and well-being of residents. "Hospitalization information indicates when a virus has evolved to a point when the most vulnerable in a population are becoming sicker and need more robust care, while wastewater monitoring is a critical early warning system for both officials and members of the public," the release states.

In this week's report card, there were 45 new cases, with the overall total rising to 91,639 COVID-19 cases, 233 total active cases, a seven-day positivity rate of 6% and 1,346 deaths.

The weekly report is available at www.AmarilloAlerts.com/reportcard. The report also notes the status of local hospital capacity, based on data from BSA Health System, Northwest Texas Healthcare System, and Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center. According to the report, 600 total hospital beds are currently occupied, with 101 total beds occupied in the ICU and 20 ventilators in use. These numbers include patients with and without COVID-19.

According to the health department's website, there have been a total of 705,639 tests administered locally since the beginning of the pandemic. Potter County's total cases since the start of the pandemic rose to 43,978, with 792 deaths related to the virus. Randall County's total COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic rose to 47,666, with 554 deaths related to the virus, according to the site Friday.

The website also noted one COVID-19 patient was hospitalized and in the ICU. In Amarillo school numbers, a total of nine cases were reported over the past 14 days, according to the site.

Even though the emergency declaration has ended, APHD notes COVID-19 continues to be a public health concern, with more than 1,000 people dying from the coronavirus each week in the United States. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 1.1 million Americans have died of COVID-19, which includes 1,346 residents of Potter and Randall counties.

The CDC continues to recommend staying up-to-date with vaccinations. The latest COVID-19 vaccine helps to restore protection that has decreased since previous vaccination and is the best way to prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death due to the virus, APHD notes. Regardless of how many vaccines received in the past, individuals ages 6 years and older only need one bivalent vaccine in order to be considered up-to-date.

Individuals who have not received the latest vaccine since September are not up-to-date and need to get one now while it’s still free and easily accessible, APHD said.

The latest vaccine is still available for free Monday through Thursday with no appointment required at Amarillo Public Health, 850 Martin Road, and Amarillo Public Health mobile clinics. To learn more, visit www.AmarilloAlerts.com/findavaccine.

Upcoming mobile vaccine clinics

  • 9 a.m. to noon on May 20 at the Lisa Cherry Health Fair, Charles E. Warford Activity Center, 1330 NW 18th Ave.

  • 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 20 at FamFest at Sam Houston Park, 4101 Line Ave.

  • 3 to 6 p.m. on May 22 at the Bowie 6th Grade Campus, 2905 Tee Anchor Blvd.

  • 3 to 6 p.m. on May 23 at the Travis 6th Grade Campus, 2801 NE 24th Ave.

  • 3 to 6 p.m. on May 24 at the Allen 6th Grade Campus, 700 N Lincoln St.

Nurses will be available at the mobile clinics to answer health-related questions. Learn more, including how to schedule a free ride to Amarillo Public Health, at www.AmarilloAlerts.com/findavaccine.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo health department releases final weekly COVID-19 update