On Thursday evening, April 2, Hemphill County Hospital District reported the first positive test for COVID-19 in Hemphill County. The news rocked the community, emptied local streets, and resulted in the closing of more local businesses, whose resources were already stretched thin by the pandemic’s effects.

Hospital officials would not reveal the identity of the individual who tested positive, citing privacy rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which prohibit such disclosure to the general public. But Dr. Tony Cook, of the Canadian Family Physicians Clinic, explained that all COVID-19 positive cases are reported to the Texas Department of State Health Services and are extensively investigated.

“Anyone who has been in contact with that individual has already been notified,” Dr. Cook said. “They go through the history of that person, if they have traveled and where, when the symptoms started, and who they have been in contact with,” Dr. Cook said. “They collect five pages of information, and they do that for every positive case they get.”

In a call to The Record this week, the individual who tested positive attempted to address persistent concerns expressed by community members on social media.

The caller reported having experienced symptoms of bronchitis in mid-March, with a cough but no fever. Though the individual did not meet the standard testing criteria, out of a preponderance of caution, a test for COVID-19 was performed on Thursday, March 19. The individual immediately went into self-quarantine for 14 days, according to guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control.

On April 2, at the conclusion of that 14-day period, the individual was symptom-free and returned to work. That afternoon, the test was returned, confirming a positive case of COVID-19. The individual went home, and—still symptom-free—did not return to work again until April 6.

The individual reported that no other members of the household have since experienced any symptoms, but that they, too, have been in self-quarantine. Neither the individual nor anyone else in the household had traveled for two weeks prior to the positive test, suggesting that the cause is community spread. The individual’s fellow employees have tested negative for the virus.

“If you were in contact with me,” the individual told The Record, “you would already have been contacted by the health department.”

In the blunt words of one healthcare professional, “The identity of the individual does not change how each one of us should act. A member of our community is definitely positive. Other communities which also have cases contain asymptomatic carriers. We should behave as if that is also true in Canadian and Hemphill County. We must assume everyone is infected.”

In an interview last Friday, Hemphill County Hospital Administrator Christy Francis said, “The most important thing everybody can do is continue to practice social distancing, limit time out and about in public, use good hand hygiene, and limit touching your face. Those have proven to be big factors.”

“These are my suggestions now that we have a positive case in Hemphill County,” Dr. Cook agreed. “Follow the recommendations. Don’t go out unless you have to. Social distancing does work. Maintain a distance of 6 feet in general. Obviously, if somebody is coughing or sneezing, you are too close.”

Dr. Cook also recommended that everyone wear a mask—even a homemade one. “Masks do work,” he said. “If you wear any type of mask, you protect others from you. If everyone wears a mask, everyone is protected.”

“Even prior to this test, I’ve been concerned that there is COVID-19 in this community,” Cook said. “Because there are a limited number of tests available, we just haven’t be able to test enough people to say it’s not in the community.”

Meanwhile, additional efforts are being made to protect the community from the spread of COVID-19. The positive test case was announced to the public as soon as the results were confirmed on Thursday, April 2, and reported on The Record’s Facebook page.

This week, the hospital district began issuing daily updates on the number of patients tested for COVID-19, and stats on the results of those tests, in an effort to keep the community better informed.

Last week, Hemphill County Judge George Briant declared a public health emergency and urged residents to restrict their exposure, refrain from gathering in groups, observe social distancing, and, whenever possible, to work from home and avoid nonessential travel.

“I tried my best to draft this in a manner that is not detrimental to any more of our local businesses than have already been severely impacted by this disease,” Briant said.

While his declaration stopped short of a shelter-in-place mandate, Briant told commissioners, “My priority has to be public health and safety. We monitor the situation hourly, and are prepared to do more, should we have to.”

The Hemphill County Hospital District, medical practitioners, and most businesses in this community have all taken numerous precautionary measures to protect the public safety. The public has been urged to do the same.

“We would like to remind everyone to practice the social-distancing mandate,” hospital officials said, after announcing the positive test Thursday evening. “We know this is a very unsettling time for everyone. Our hearts go out to anyone who may be affected by the coronavirus. This is the time to lean on each other and draw strength from knowing we are a resilient and loving community.”