The Hemphill County Hospital District lab has reported 21 new positive tests for COVID-19 in local residents over the last seven days, from Jan. 21-27, and 13 new cases in non-county residents. There have been no new virus-related hospital admissions during that time either, and no inpatient or ER transfers to a facility with higher level of care have been necessary.

In the last two weeks of testing at the hospital district’s Mesa View residences, three tests have been confirmed positive—two of those at Mesa View Senior Living this week. The good news is that 21 staff members there received their second vaccine doses on Saturday.

In her report to hospital board members last week, HCH CEO Christy Francis said the district has received 500 vaccine doses in Canadian, and all of those doses have been dispensed. A supply of second doses, or boosters, arrived this week and hospital and clinic personnel are gearing for second-dose clinics and have begun contacting those eligible individuals to set up their appointments.

“We did get word today that you can order vaccines based on the number of doses you can administer in a week,” Francis said. “We would be pushing it to do 500 doses/week, but we still have the hotline going, and there are well over 500 [names on the list.]”

Francis told her board that they would order more vaccines as soon as they are available, and would begin scheduling additional first-dose vaccine clinics when supplies arrive.

AS A PUBLIC SERVICE, OUR COVERAGE OF COVID-19 is shared here at no cost to our Facebook followers. If you find value in this information, please consider supporting our work by subscribing to our e-Edition for only $35/year. Follow this link to subscribe: https://www.etypeservices.com/The%20Canadian%20RecordID377/default.aspx?PubID=1443