Weekly COVID-19 update notes no new deaths, 151 new cases

From Staff Reports
·4 min read
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As hospital bed capacity for the area remains high, the Amarillo Department of Public Health (APHD) noted no new deaths related to the coronavirus and 1,041 cases of COVID-19 currently active during the week of spring break.

According to the Amarillo Department of Public Health's new COVID-19 report card issued for the week of March 9-15, there were 151 new cases, with the overall total rising to 90,766 COVID-19 cases, 1,041 total active cases, a seven-day positivity rate of 6% and 1,336 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, 670 total hospital beds are currently occupied, an increase of 15 from the previous week, with 121 total beds occupied in the ICU and 25 ventilators in use. These numbers include patients with and without COVID-19.

The COVID-19 report card for March 9-15, issued weekly by the Amarillo Department of Public Health.
The COVID-19 report card for March 9-15, issued weekly by the Amarillo Department of Public Health.

According to the health department's website, there have been a total of 693,167 tests administered locally since the beginning of the pandemic. Potter County's total cases since the start of the pandemic rose to 43,587, with 788 deaths related to the virus. Randall County's total COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic rose to 47,204, with 550 deaths related to the virus, according to the site Friday.

The website also noted 27 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized, with 25 in the ICU and none on ventilators. In Amarillo school numbers, a total of 23 cases were reported over the past 14 days, according to the site.

The weekly influenza report is available online at https://www.amarillo.gov/departments/community-services/public-health/communicable-disease/community-reports . This week's report was not available.

What will change when the public health emergency ends?

According to a news release from APHD, March 11 marked three years since the World Health Organization first called the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic in 2020, and since then, nearly 7 million people have been reported to have died of COVID-19 and more than 750 million cases have been reported around the world, with numbers still increasing daily.

During the pandemic, a number of provisions were implemented to help guarantee healthcare. With the COVID-19 emergency declarations set to expire on May 11, those provisions will change once the emergency declarations end. According to the National Public Health Information Coalition, the following provisions will end in May 2023:

  • Increased payments to hospitals taking care of Medicare patients diagnosed with COVID-19 will end.

  • Enhanced federal funding to states to help fund Medicaid programs will end.

  • Continuous enrollment in Medicaid will end, which means that states will begin reviewing eligibility requirements for Medicaid similar to what was done periodically prior to COVID-19. Those who are no longer deemed eligible will lose their Medicaid coverage.

  • Telemedicine prescriptions for controlled substances without in-person evaluation will end unless the DEA specifies an alternate date.

In addition, coverage for COVID-19 testing will change, and the government will no longer provide free home COVID-19 tests through the mail.

The Amarillo Public Health weekly Covid report is available at www.AmarilloAlerts.com/reportcard.

Amarillo Public Health strongly encourages residents to stay up-to-date on vaccinations and boosters to prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death due to Covid. Free vaccines and boosters are available Monday through Thursday with no appointment required at the Amarillo Public Health Department, 850 Martin Road, and Amarillo Public Health mobile clinics.

Upcoming mobile vaccine clinics

  • 10 a.m. to noon on March 17 at the Guyon Saunders Resource Center, 200 S. Tyler St.

  • 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on March 21 at the North Amarillo Public Library, 1500 NE 24th Ave.

  • 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on March 23 at the Southwest Amarillo Public Library, 6801 SW 45th Ave.

  • 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 24 at the Full Smile Dental Health Fair, 5051 S. Soncy Rd.

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

For the latest Covid information or to find vaccine locations, visit www.AmarilloAlerts.com.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Weekly COVID-19 update notes no new deaths, 151 new cases