27 new cases of COVID-19; Death count climbs to six

Twenty-seven new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed by the Clarendon Family Medical Center in the first five days of December, and Donley County Judge John Howard, MD, says at least six local residents have now died from the disease.

Howard says adding known local cases that tested in Childress would raise total new positives the first week of December to 32. The hospitalization rate in December, however, has fallen to one in 30, compared to one in ten in November.

As of Sunday, total tests at the local clinic number 800 with 236 of those being positive since the COVID-19 virus was first detected here in March. Adding the known tests on local residents conducted at other facilities raises that total number of positive cases to 279.

The clinic is reporting 20 active cases under its care this week.

Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon reports they handled 35 deaths during the month of November in the six area communities they serve. While not all of those deaths are COVID-related, the funeral home’s average for November is usually 15 deaths.

Howard also noted that a third FEMA mobile morgue has been delivered to Amarillo to handle the deaths occurring in the metro area, and hospital beds are also in short supply for COVID patients.

“They don’t have room in the hospitals in Amarillo, and they are turning away people they would probably ordinarily admit,” Howard said.

To help alleviate sending people to the hospital, Howard said the local clinic is doing more than normal to get COVID patients hydrated and get them on oxygen.

“Dehydration is a problem with this disease,” Howard said.

Howard also said vaccines for COVID-19 will be coming out soon and the state is developing plans for distributing those.

The Pfizer vaccine will come out first, Howard said, but must be stored at -90°F and then can be kept in a refrigerator for up to five days. Medical facilities are finding it very difficult to get the refrigeration equipment needed to store the Pfizer vaccine, and the minimum order for it is currently 975 doses.

The vaccine from Moderna will likely be the first available in our area and the first doses will be for those professionals with direct patient contact, clinic staff, nursing home residents and staff, EMS, and school nurses. The second round of the vaccine will be for other first responders.

Howard said obstacles still have to be overcome in terms of distributing the vaccine. The Moderna vaccine will have a minimum order of 100 doses, but locations like Donley County doesn’t need that many in the first round so there are still questions to be answered.