Fayette County continues to see cases of both the Omicron variant and the Delta variant of COVID-19, according to the latest round of testing by the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Region 7.
In the 23-county region, a portion of cases remain the Delta variant. This is in contrast to tests conducted elsewhere in Texas and elsewhere in the United States, where Omicron represents almost all cases.
“We remain thankful for our local healthcare providers are able to meet the current needs,” Fayette County Emergency Management Coordinator Craig Moreau said. “The total amount of county residents hospitalized because of COVID-19 at this time remains in the single digits. There are also a significant amount of hospitalized patients throughout the region who have tested positive for COVID-19 as an incidental finding when they were in the hospital for other causes.”
The last reported county death due to COVID-19 was three weeks ago, the third-longest gap between fatalities for Fayette County.
According to the DSHS, Fayette County’s new confirmed daily cases remained in single digits from October through December. However, daily case counts posted by the DSHS for Fayette County since the beginning of the year are as follows:
• Jan. 1.............................15;
• Jan. 2.............................19;
• Jan. 3.............................25;
• Jan. 5.............................16;
• Jan. 8.............................20;
• Jan. 9.............................12;
• Jan. 10...........................18.
“All counties have seen a significant rise in daily cases,” Moreau said. “Residents are encouraged to discuss their risk factors and patient-specific recommendations with their primary care physician or nurse practitioner.”
Moreau released the following statistics for Fayette County as of Monday, Jan. 10:
• new cases per-day average – 18.9 (or 75.5 per 100,000 residents);
• infection rate – 1.42 (a value over 1 indicates that cases are expected to rise); • positive test rate – 30.6 percent
• positive test rate – 30.6 percent of tests are positive.
Isolation and quarantine recommendations as well as many other frequently asked questions can be found at www.dshs.texas.gov/ coronavirus/faq.
COVID-19 and flu tests are available throughout the county but supplies are limited.
“Please verify with the provider or pharmacy before going in,” Moreau said.
In addition, vaccines and boosters are available at all county pharmacies, he said.