Officials urge residents to follow all COVID-19 safety guidelines, stay home
On Saturday, March 28, Texas County officials confirmed the first positive case of COVID-19. All persons in close contact with the infected individual will be notified and advised of quarantine. No further details will be confirmed or denied by officials.
Residents are encouraged to seek testing when experiencing the three main symptoms of COVID-19: fever, shortness of breath and coughing. In about 40 percent of cases, diarrhea is also present prior to the fever and cough, although medical professionals will remind you that this symptom alone is not necessarily indicative of COVID-19.
To date, only 23 residents have reported for COVID-19 testing in the county. At this time, 13 have returned as negative, and 10 are pending results. The positive result reported today was tested outside of Texas County.
According to Memorial Hospital of Texas County Interim-CEO Dr. Emmanuel Barias, people need to stay home and come for testing when experiencing the symptoms.
"I would like to ask for your support and encourage people to stay home. I know we are under testing. I know we are under evaluating and there are- there may be- infected people out there already," Barias said in a release earlier this week.
Residents who are not working in essential staff positions as designated by the state and national government are strongly encouraged to remain home and practice social distancing.
If anyone in the community has access to any of the needed medical supplies, please contact the hospital at: 580-338-6515.
Source: Texas County Emergency Management