Active county COVID-19 cases drops to 76

By Wesley Gardner
LPR Editor

The Caldwell County Office of Emergency Management on Friday deactivated the county’s COVID-19 Emergency Operation Center, following suit with several neighboring counties as new confirmed cases continue to decline.
While the county currently has 1,255 confirmed cases of COVID-19, only 76 of those cases are active. Last week saw 25 new cases, following a trend of declining numbers over the last month. Thirty-four fatalities have been reported in Caldwell County.
Emergency management officials noted they would still be available to disseminate information about the virus and that they will still provide test sites when they’re made available to the county.
The next COVID-19 test sites will be held on Saturday, September 12 at the Dale Community Center and Sunday, September 13 at Luling Northside Park. Both walk-up test sites will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Officials noted face covering and social distancing will be strictly enforced at each test site.
Though the recent decline in new cases is promising, officials still stressed the importance of practicing safety measures.
“Continue to follow common-sense strategies to help mitigate the spread of the virus – including washing your hands, social distancing and wearing a mask properly over your nose and mouth,” officials stated in press release. “Face cover continues to be a requirement in public places by Governor Abbott’s State of Texas Ordinance.”
Officials noted that new case counts will be now be released at the end of the month as opposed to the end of each week, though those interested in seeing daily new case counts can visit the Texas Department of State Health Services’ COVID-19 database at https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus.

Though Gov. Greg Abbott extended the state’s Disaster Declaration on Monday, Texas has generally seen a steady decline in the number of new daily cases.
As of Monday, Texas has officially reported 640,370 cases of COVID-19. Over the past seven days, the state has seen an average of 3,671 new cases each day, which is the lowest average level since June 22.
“Renewing this Disaster Declaration helps ensure that we have the resources and strategies in place to help communities across Texas respond to COVID-19,” said Governor Abbott in a statement. “I urge Texans to take precautionary steps to protect their health by wearing a mask, social distancing, and sanitizing their hands. Working together, we will slow the spread and keep our communities safe.”