GATESVILLE, Texas — In an emergency commissioners court meeting, Coryell County publicly laid out its plan to continue addressing the coronavirus outbreak, locally, Monday.
County emergency management coordinator Bob Harrell said there were exposures in Coryell County, of which they are waiting for results on three tests and will be in by Tuesday. Two others were screened for and were found to have other illnesses, after a Bell County man who works in Gatesville tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
"The majority of those employees live in Coryell County," County Judge Roger Miller said. "We thought it was prudent to take action. But at this point, even Friday morning up to this point, we have no confirmed cases in Coryell County."
County department heads expressed problems with supply in cleaning materials, one of which said employees had been bringing some from home. Miller said the county is working on increasing its cleaning regimen in county facilities, including expanding use of the inmate work program at the county jail.
"All of this is done to prevent our medical facilities from being over-run with patients and not being able to handle the patient crunch," Coryell County's local health authority said.
With Friday's disaster declaration expiring just after 1 p.m. on March 20th, the county is working to figure out needs which also need to be addressed if the declaration needs to be extended and the court has planned another meeting for 9 a.m. Friday.
"People here in Gatesville, they go shopping in Waco, Temple, Killeen, Copperas Cove," Miller said. "That's how quickly this can spread.
Harrell said Coryell Memorial Hospital in Gatesville has set up a respiratory care clinic to screen for preliminary conditions like the common cold, seasonal flu and H1N1. It also offers drive-thru testing and has been operational since Friday.
