Updated 3:03 p.m. March 27, 2020
Three additional COVID-19 cases were confirmed positive in a news release from Cameron County Public Health Thursday, including a 27-year-old male from Brownsville, a 44-year-old male from Laguna Vista and a 59-year-old male from Los Fresnos. All of the cases are travel-related and the individuals are in isolation, according to the news release.
In a news conference earlier today, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. said there have been 103 COVID-19 tests done with 36 negative results, 13 positive and 54 pending.
Treviño said the county is working with local hospitals, UTRGV and UT medical centers to set up countywide drive-thru testing sites.
He said the problem has been test kit availability.
In a Facebook post earlier today, Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez said the city’s drive-thru testing site set up at the Brownsville Sports Park yielded two positive results on Wednesday out of 18 people tested.
“We have been made aware of those two positives, but we don’t have confirmation,” Treviño said. “They need to provide that to the local health authority, which is the county. Then we’ll do the epidemiological background contact test to see who they are, where have they been, what do they do, where do they work, to do all that. That’s our responsibility.”
He said the county is trying to coordinate with the City of Brownsville.
Treviño also said the two cases are not included in the 13 total the county has reported.
Original story:
Three additional COVID-19 travel-related cases were confirmed positive by Cameron County Public Health earlier today.
There are now a total of 10 confirmed cases in the county.
The individuals, who are under home isolation, are a 20-year-old-male from Rancho Viejo, and a 21-year-old male and 21-year-old female from Brownsville, according to a news release from Cameron County Public Health that was posted on Facebook at 5:39 p.m. The news release states that all individuals reported having traveled out of the country and the cases are linked to the first travel-related case in Cameron County.
In a news conference this afternoon, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. discussed a different confirmed COVID-19 case in the county.
The seventh positive case of COVID-19 was confirmed Tuesday night, according to a Cameron County Public Health news release issued at 11:17 p.m.
The individual is a 40-year-old male from Rio Hondo who is currently under home isolation, the news release states. The individual did not report any recent travel outside the county.
The public health department is investigating to identify if this is the first case of community transmission.
“Epidemiological investigation is a process that includes but is not limited to contact tracing, determining signs and symptoms and ensuring testing for those who are identified to need it,” Treviño said during the news conference, which was live-streamed from the Cameron County website. “The contact tracing basically is a background investigation trying to retrace the steps of where the particular individual may have been … and who they may have come in contact with.”
At the time of the news conference, 51 individuals had been tested for COVID-19 at state labs and one at a private lab in the county. Nineteen results had come back negative, seven positive and 26 were pending.
Seventy individuals are under self-quarantine, 20 of whom have completed the 14 days and 50 are still being monitored.
Treviño said one of the issues the county has been dealing with has been testing capabilities.
“While we’re able to provide numbers on the tests provided through the state lab, we are unable to determine how many individuals have been referred to or tested through private labs,” he said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott passed an order Tuesday that now requires public and private labs utilizing FDA-approved tests of COVID-19 to report both positive and negative results to local health departments, according to the county judge.
He said the primary goal of the mandatory shelter-in-place order issued Monday, and which started today, is to prevent and slow down the spread of COVID-19.
The first amended emergency management order with mandatory countywide shelter-in-place will be submitted later today to put all the previous orders in one document and make it easier for the public to find what constitutes essential services and activities.
Some essential activities include the addition of substance abuse facilities, AA and related association meetings; commercial and residential construction; hotels following guidelines and recommendations; and, services that are necessary to maintain residences or support exempt businesses and professional services, such as legal or accounting services.
Asked if there are clinics where people without medical insurance can go if they are feeling sick, Treviño replied to call the county’s coronavirus hotline, which is (956) 247-3650, and receive guidance.
“We are not asking if they have or don’t have insurance,” he said in Spanish. “Obviously, we’re here to help the public.”
