Category: Top News Stories

Keep up with what’s going on in Devine, Natalia, Lytle, Bigfoot and Moore areas in Medina, Frio, and Atascosa Counties.

Devine Chamber meeting next Tuesday, Jan. 12 to review expenditures and unauthorized funding

The Devine Chamber of Commerce is electing board members, reviewing 2019 and 2020 bank statements, and discussing recent decisions made by President Marcus Buckner at its meeting scheduled for next Tuesday, January 12.
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Devine looks at signage, decorations, sends final warnings to 15 property owners regarding water line

The City of Devine is working towards the ability to regulate signage within its City limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction after the City Council passed a Resolution allowing City staff to petition the Texas Department of Transportation for certified city status.
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Rising hospitalizations trigger restrictions… restaurants reduced to 50% capacity, bars closed in Medina County

Officials ask families to report hospitalized loved ones with covid, and deaths

Hospitalizations are climbing in Trauma Service Region P, which includes the greater Bexar County area, including Medina County, Frio County, Atascosa County, and 8 more surrounding counties.  Officials held an impromptu teleconference this past Monday afternoon, as they received word from State health officials that cases in our area are surging.

“The number of calls we are getting for EMS with suspected Covid in our area is getting up there….On average, every day we are hearing one of those calls in Medina County, where we have a suspected covid patient needing EMS,” stated Medina County Emergency Manager Keith Lutz, “Definitely at least one a day on average, and maybe more.”

The judge expanded on hospitalizations in our service area.

“As of yesterday, Sunday December 27th, we are now in a High-Hospitalization area, which means that over 15% of hospital capacity is being used for covid patients for 7-straight days,” stated Medina County Judge Chris Schuchart. “This is due to the strain it is putting on the healthcare system.”

Data shows that hospitalizations in this service region went above 15% covid on Dec.21st and have continued to stay above that threshold for seven straight days as of this Sunday.

“That triggers a couple of things according to the Governor’s last order. First, it reduces restaurant capacity from 75% to 50%, and secondly, it closes bars.”

The Numbers

Locally, in the past week, Medina County’s total number of cases have climbed with 100 more cases reported in the 6-day span. The total case count was 2,158 on Tuesday, December 22 and is now 2,258 on Monday, December 28th.  There are a total of 125 active cases as of this Monday.  Around 100 cases also went into the “recovered” category, which as the health unit director explained weeks ago simply means it has been 14 days since those persons tested positive.  The State, nor can our local health unit, keep up with the status of the many people who have tested positive, especially at the current rate.

Our local officials do appreciate your assistance in notifying the Medina County Health Unit of any hospitalizations or deaths that have occurred, as State reporting often lags weeks or months behind in these matters.

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Do we have any kind of handle on how many local people from here are hospitalized in San Antonio right now?

“We do not,” Judge Schuchart explained.

He went on to explain that officials have no other choice but to rely on the State of Texas to relay that information, unless a family member reports it first.

You can report a hospitalized loved one by calling Medina County Health Department at 830-741-6191 to help make reporting more timely.

Do we know how many deaths of local people have occurred?

“Even with some of the covid deaths…it is months before we get that info from the state,” Judge added.  As of right now, 35 deaths have been reported by the state in Medina County residents, but many of those reports came in months after the fact.

“Right now, it seems like half of the state is surging, under high hospitalization,” Judge Schuchart added.

When reading the charts released by the county, officials remind everyone that they can only present the info that has been provided to them.

“I am looking at that chart right now, and I can see that there are more people in one of those zip codes who I know have covid, but we have to wait on the State to give us that information unless the testing is done by a local doctor, or the person calls in to the health departments themselves.”

Schuchart who recently battled covid himself, added, “If you know someone who has covid, please don’t let them just sit at home and get sicker. There are things you can do. Make sure you contact a doctor that will give you something to try.”

SA area

The City of San Antonio reports that there are 299 people in the ICU, and 1,079 in SA hospitals. Many SA news stations reported on Monday that more than 120 patients were admitted in the past 24 hours.