Second drive through test site set for Lockhart

By Wesley Gardner
LPR Editor

The Caldwell County Office of Emergency Management announced Monday that the county will host another free COVID-19 drive through test site from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 10, at Lockhart Junior High School, 500 City Line Road.
Texas Game Warden Joann Garza-Mayberry, who’s currently acting as Caldwell County Office of Emergency Management’s public information officer, said the tests will be administered to anyone who qualifies after completing a short survey at www.txcovidtest.org or by calling 512-883-2400. Registration for testing will open 24 hours prior to the test date.
Symptoms the survey will cover include fever and chills, cough, fatigue, body or muscle aches, shortness of breath, sore throat, headaches, nausea and vomiting or diarrhea, nasal congestion and the loss of taste or smell.
Garza-Mayberry said the number of tests that will be administered on Sunday is still unclear at this point. At last Tuesday’s drive through test site, officials were told 100 tests would be administered, though the final count ended up at 119.
Caldwell County residents made up 111 of the 119 tests. Five county residents tested positive, bringing the total number of confirmed positive cases in Caldwell County to 23 as of Tuesday afternoon. Eight of those individuals have already recovered.
On Monday, Caldwell County Judge Hoppy Haden said that while the jump to the then 22 cases seemed like a big leap, it was in line with what he expected given the increased amount of testing.
“Really and truly, we have 22 cases over six weeks, and several of them are now recovered,” said Haden. “Given the amount of people we tested [last week], only three percent came back positive.
“I feel pretty good about that. I feel like what we’re were doing is working. We’ve not had a tremendous spike. Our neighboring counties all around us have had deaths or 100 and more cases.”
Haden noted the county could theoretically implement restrictions on the number people allowed to gather but said the move would do little because the county wouldn’t be allowed to enforce them under the threat of penalty.
“I can issue an order that says not more than 10 [people] or not more than 5, but the governor’s order saying, ‘we just encourage you not to gather’ supersedes mine, so it does no good,” Haden said. “We’ve had several requests for gatherings, and we told them that we prefer they not gather.”
Still, Haden said residents should continue to follow safe social distancing measures when possible.
Positive test results have thus far been confirmed in five of the counties seven zip codes, which include:

78644: Lockhart, Seawillow and Mendoza;
78616: Dale, Saint Johns Colony, McMahan, Lytton Springs and St. Mary’s Colony;
78622: Fentress;
78648: Luling, Stairtown and Joliet;
78655: Martindale and Staples;
78656: Maxwell, San Marcos and Reedville;
78661: Prairie Lea.

Due to statewide privacy regulations, county officials are only allowed to release the individuals’ gender, age and zip code. The Caldwell County Office of Emergency Management released the following information regarding the county’s 23 confirmed positive cases.

Case 1: March 2020, F/35, 78644, Recovered
Case 2: April 2020, M/42, 78644, Recovered
Case 3: April 2020, F/42, 78648, Recovered
Case 4: April 2020, F/25, 78644, Recovered
Case 5: April 2020, M/21, 78648, Recovered
Case 6: April 2020, F/62, 78656, Recovered
Case 7: April 2020, F/30-39, 78616, Recovered
Case 8: April 2020, M/50-59, 78644, Recovered
Case 9: April 2020, M/50-59, 78616, Active-Quarantined
Case 10: April 2020, F/50-59, 78644, Active-Hospitalized
Case 11: April 2020, M/30-39, 78616, Active-Quarantined
Case 12: Apr 2020, F/20-29, 78644, Active-Quarantined
Case 13: Apr 2020, M/50-59, 78644, Active-Quarantined
Case 14: Apr 2020, F/30-39, 78616, Active-Quarantined
Case 15: May 2020, M/50-59, 78648, Active-Quarantined
Case 16: May 2020, M/40-49, 78640, Active-Quarantined
Case 17: May 2020, M/60-69, 78644, Active-Quarantined
Case 18: May 2020, M/70-79, 78644, Active-Quarantined
Case 19: May 2020, F/30-39, 78644, Active-Quarantined
Case 20: May 2020, M/30-39, 78644, Active-Quarantined
Case 21: May 2020, M/20-29, 78648, Active-Quarantined
Case 22: May 2020, M/30-39, 78644, Active-Quarantined
Case 23: May 2020, M/10-19, 78616, Active-Quarantined at Home