COVID-19 spread in Hill County continues to drop as holiday season progresses

Hill County Public Health Director and Health Officer Kim Larson said the community is doing a good job following public health guidelines and the rate of COVID-19's spread in the county is still falling.

Larson, like many in public heath nationwide, said she's been on pins and needles waiting to see if the area would see a spike in COVID-19 cases in the wake of Thanksgiving, but it seems like Hill County dodged a bullet as no spike has materialized.

"I was holding my breath until we were two weeks out because of the incubation period, but now it looks like we handled it pretty well," she said. "People listened and did their part to protect themselves and their family members safe and the numbers are still dropping. ... I am very happy."

She said for now there is no indication yet that the numbers will start going back up, and the drop in spread has fairly consistent week to week, a trend she hopes will continue.

Larson said she is anticipating an increase in cases after the holidays are done, especially with college students returning home, but if everyone does what they did during Thanksgiving, it will, hopefully, be a small increase.

She recommended that people should keep their circle of contacts small, socially distance, wear face masks, practice hand hygiene, and stay home when sick.

"That's what's keeping us safe and slowing that spread," she said. "We just want to see that continue so hopefully our schools can open even more and we can go back to a more normal feeling of life."

Larson said even without Thanksgiving in the mix, it seems like people in the community are taking the pandemic more seriously and have been listening to public health and its recommendations.

She said she thinks the community, overall, is doing a good job, looking at the bigger picture and realizing that the more responsibility they take as individuals, the more normalcy can return.

"I think our community has done a great job of that recently, and I think the numbers reflect that," she said.

The health department's goal is to see a rate of 50 new cases per day per 100,000 residents, and while the community is currently at about 60 per day per 100,000, that is still far better than 167 per day per 100,000 in late October.

She said October and November were scary months for public health with the disease spreading too fast for them to keep up with, but things are looking better each week.

"We're coming down very quickly," she said.

Larson said there is no indication that there are specific hotspots for COVID-19 transmission in the community since cases have decreased. However, she said, a troubling number of cases cannot be traced, indicating that there may be some community spread.

Public health's workload

Particularly in the past few months, the pandemic has created a tremendous workload for the health department, especially when it comes to contact tracing and case investigation. However, Larson said, with the rate of spread going down and new contact tracers having bolstered the workforce the department has been able to shift many employees' focuses back to what they would normally be doing.

Home visitors, family planning coordinators and Women Infants and Children staff will be getting their typical programs running more consistently now that they're better able to keep up with the workload, she said.

Larson said she's cautions to even talk about this because of the possibility that cases in the county could go back up, but the department is taking steps to prepare for that eventuality.

"Of course, they are always going to be on stand-by if the numbers start creeping back up and we need more assistance, but we need to get back to the other jobs we do at the health department," she said.

Since workload has decreased, she said, contact tracing has been going well, and the department is no longer looking for additional contact tracers.

Larson said this is partially because of the decreased cases, but she's also concerned about the status of the department's COVID-19-related funding beginning Jan. 1.

She said the department will advertise for more contact tracers if the situation changes.

Vaccine rollout plans

The health department is still planning for the COVID-19 vaccine's eventual rollout to the general public, Larson said.

While distribution of the vaccine throughout Hill County isn't fundamentally different from how they would distribute the influenza vaccine, a number of complicating factors exist.

Normally, a mass vaccination clinic the department would run could serve 300 people in an hour, but because they want everyone socially distanced, and to be observed for allergic reactions, it will be slower and more involved.

She said people who are given the vaccine will need to be observed for 15 minutes after injection to make sure there are no allergic reactions and to address them and record data if there are.

Larson said that after receiving the vaccine, people will be sent questionnaires by the Centers for Disease Control so they can keep track of any side effects that show up after the 15-minute observation period.

She also said open questions about the vaccine still are out there like, should someone who's pregnant, or someone with an already weakened immune system get it?

With regards to people who've already gotten COVID-19, she said, there is not yet any official guidance, but based on what she's heard, while people who've had the disease do develop antibodies for it, they tend to disappear fairly quickly, so she suspects those people will still need the vaccine.

She said she would be in contact with the state this week and answers to these kinds of questions might be available soon.

Larson said she hopes everyone stays well in the coming weeks and continues their efforts to keep others safe.

"Have a safe and happy holiday season and continue to protect yourselves and your families," she said.