By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
An alarming rise in recent COVID-19 cases in Del Rio was discussed during Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Interim City Manager John Sheedy, who previously served as the city’s emergency management director and who helped oversee the city and county response to the COVID-19 pandemic, provided the council with an update on the current COVID situation in the city.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had any COVID update. Of course, things were looking better for us prior to the spread of the Delta variant,” Sheedy told the council, adding that it is difficult to know if the Delta variant is the one most prevalent in Del Rio now.
“What we do know is that about a week ago, 41% of the cases in Texas were the Delta variant, and the Delta variant is spreading so rapidly, I’m certain that number is now higher. It’s very likely the dominant strain in Texas now, or if it’s not, it soon will be.
“I want to reiterate how concerning this is for us all . . . The Delta variant is more than 10 times more contagious than the previous COVID variant we were dealing with, so I know I’ve heard the local health authority talk about there may be one person in a family that had contracted COVID and the rest of the family was able to social distance and protect themselves, and you would only have the one person with COVID.
“Now it seems like, if there’s a Delta case, or what we suspect to be a Delta case, it’s much more likely that the whole household will end up with COVID, and that just goes to show how much more contagious it is,” Sheedy said.
“We do know that 89% of the cases that we’ve had in Del Rio are in unvaccinated people, so, again, we’re back to our primary concern and we just want to reiterate to everyone, please get vaccinated,” Sheedy said.
“Currently, we probably have 42% of our population that has been fully vaccinated, and 59.3% have had one shot. We just really need to encourage everyone to continue with those vaccinations,” he said.
Sheedy said there are still plenty of opportunities for Del Rioans to get the vaccine.
“Anybody that wants to get vaccinated, we’re still having a clinic every Friday at the Plaza Del Sol Mall, between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and that will be through August and likely into September,” Sheedy said.
“We’re also looking at another vaccination clinic at the civic center, and I think that’s been announced for Aug. 19 from noon to 5 p.m. That’s another opportunity for people to get vaccinated,” he said.
Sheedy said local health officials are also working on establishing a series of drive-through vaccination clinics by the end of the month.
“We’re going to use the civic center, and people will be able to drive up to the front of the civic center, be able to stay in their air-conditioned cars, listen to the radio, and they’ll come out and vaccinate you, and you’ll be on your way,” Sheedy told the council.
He told the council there are currently 257 active COVID cases in Del Rio.
“Our seven-day positivity rate is 16%. We do know 100% of the persons currently hospitalized because of COVID have not been vaccinated, and the average age of hospitalized folks has dropped drastically. It’s right at 50 years old now, and that’s another indication that we’re dealing with the Delta variant, because it’s having a greater impact on younger people,” he said.
Sheedy said there are currently 32 patients in Val Verde Regional Medical Center because of COVID-19. Six of those patients, he said, were in the facility’s COVID intensive care unit, but added none were on ventilators.
He said some patients are being transferred to hospitals in San Antonio, but noted the transfers for COVID patients were taking longer.
“Again, we just encourage everyone to pay attention, and do what you can do: Get vaccinated,” Sheedy said.
Following Sheedy’s presentation, Councilman J.P. Sanchez asked about the difference in the percentage of persons who had received both vaccine doses and the percentage of persons who had received only one.
“Are some of these people just not going back and getting the second shot?” Sanchez asked.
“That’s what it looks like. I think that number (who have only received one shot) is around 9,000. It’s quite a large group,” Sheedy replied.
He added one dose of the vaccine is better than none, but said to be fully vaccinated, people should have both doses.
Mayor Pro-Tem Alfredo “Fred” Carranza Jr. said, “I just want to encourage everybody to go out and get your vaccine. As the interim city manager mentioned, 100% of the people in the hospital with COVID were not vaccinated . . . Everybody, please get vaccinated.”
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
