COVID cases on rise in past week

From staff reports

While Caldwell County officials have not yet confirmed the presence of the Omicron variant in the area, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county has jumped by more than 100 in a week’s time, according to state data.

 According to the COVID-19 case dashboard managed by Texas Health and Human Services, Caldwell County has tallied 7,499 confirmed cases since March 2020. At press time Tuesday last week, the county had a total of 7,393 cases. The county tallied one more fatality during the past week, making the total COVID-19 death toll 157 people since the pandemic’s beginning.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the positivity rate for Caldwell County is currently 14.76 percent and the community transmission risk is categorized as “high,” meaning wearing a mask in public, indoor settings is recommended.

The CDC on Monday released new isolation and quarantine guidelines for people who test positive or are exposed to COVID-19.

For people who test positive:

Stay home and isolate for five days, regardless of whether you have symptoms. For symptomatic people, Day 1 is the first full day after symptoms developed.

If you have no symptoms or if symptoms are resolving after five days, you can leave isolation but should wear a mask around others — even at home — for five more days.

If you have a fever — even a low fever that is going down — you should continue to isolate until your temperature is normal. 

There’s no need to test out of isolation after five days; tests can remain positive for months after COVID-19 infection, although you are no longer infectious.

For people who are exposed, and are boosted, or have received two Pfizer or Moderna doses in the last six months, or a single J&J dose in the last two months:

No need to quarantine at home after exposure.

Always wear a mask around others for 10 days.

Test if you develop symptoms, or five days after exposure. People can be infected even without symptoms.

If you test positive, you should begin to follow isolation guidelines.

If you are exposed and are unvaccinated or are eligible for a booster but haven’t received one:

Quarantine at home for five days, and continue to wear a mask around others for five more days to be sure you don’t infect someone else.

Test if you develop symptoms or five days after exposure.

If you test positive, you should begin to follow isolation guidelines.

If you need access to a COVID-19 test, visit the City of Lockhart’s webpage lockhart-tx.org for a list of options.