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

Medina County reports first case of COVID-19

Medina County reports first case of COVID-19 Medina County is reporting the first case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, in a county resident. The person is a 57-year-old female who recently returned from travel abroad and immediately self -isolated, according to the county.

The person is currently isolated in a hospital in Bexar County. As a result of her self-isolation it appears there has been no community exposure. There has been no exposure to local businesses or local health care facilities.

For latest information on COVID-19 visit our Medina County webpage at medinacountytexas.org for links to CDC, DSHS and the Medina County Health Unit.

There are things everyone can do to help prevent the spread of COVID-19: • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands. • Avoid close contact with people who are sick. • Stay home when you are sick. • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then wash your hands. • Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces. Minimizing exposure is especially important for people who are 65 or older or who have an underlying health condition like heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, high blood pressure or cancer. People in those groups have a higher risk of developing the severe disease if they do get COVID-19, and the safest thing for them to do during an outbreak will be to stay home as much as possible and minimize close contact with other people. To get ready, they should talk to their doctor about getting additional prescription medications and have enough household items and groceries on hand to stay home as needed. The public can find up-to-date coronavirus information at dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus.

Medina County: Medina Electric to close lobbies as precaution for staff and members

“It is a super fluid situation right, so we are meeting pretty regularly. Today, Monday the 16th, we made the decision to close the lobbies of all Medina Electric offices as of 5 pm today. Our drive-thru will remain open, and of course, you can pay online as well,” said Medina Electric representative Katie Haby.

“We are doing everything we can to care for our members and our staff. This is certainly uncharted territory, and if our linemen were to come down with the virus it wouldn’t be good, so we are limiting the number of people in a room, and person to person contact as much as possible out of precaution.”

“If you are having any issues making payment deadline, please reach out to us at 1-866-632-3532. We are exploring different ways that we can help the community and especially our elderly population and the logistics of that. But if you are having trouble making payment, we need members to please be sure to call and communicate that to us, so that we can discuss what resources we have to help.”

The Devine News will provide daily updates, or as often as necessary to keep locals informed on community decisions regarding the Corona Virus in Devine and Medina County.

Update: Devine schools close thru 20th to slow spread of Corona

Devine schools announced this Saturday, March 14th that they will extend school closures through March 20th. Many other local schools including Medina Valley, Natalia, Lytle, Hondo, and many others, took that same action last Friday to slow the spread of the Corona Virus.

Superintendent Grandjean stated: “On Monday morning, March 16, our DISD Administration will be meeting to plan the implementation of our curriculum at home for our students should we have to extend our break beyond Monday, March 23, 2020.  We will also be preparing plans to continue our Food and Nutritional Services for students during an extended period.  As soon as we have the final plans for each of these services, I will have them sent out.”

Good Afternoon Devine ISD Students, Parents/Guardians, and Community,

As the health and safety of our students, staff, and community is our highest priority, the Devine ISD Administration has been closely monitoring the Covid-19 virus throughout the entire week, basically by the hour, of Spring Break. As I stated yesterday, given the information that we have received from all sources at the local and state level, we are still being told that our county and community are still considered at low level risk. Based on all the information yesterday,with no communicated diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in Devine or Medina County, we decided to extend Spring Break through Monday, March 16 as a precaution, and for preparation.  This afternoon, after much consultation, I have decided to now extend our break through March 20, out of an abundance of caution.  We have been reassured by state and local health officials that we are continuing to make well informed decisions in relation to school operations; however, as this environment changes, public concern also plays a part in decision making. 

On Monday morning, our DISD Administration will be meeting to plan the implementation of our curriculum at home for our students should we have to extend our break beyond Monday, March 23, 2020.  We will also be preparing plans to continue our Food and Nutritional Services for students during an extended period.  As soon as we have the final plans for each of these services, I will have them sent out through all of our school communications media.

The U.I.L. has suspended all sanctioned events from March 16th through March 29th.  Likewise, Devine will follow this guideline:  All extra-curricular activities requiring travel outside of the district or other districts coming to Devine are to be temporarily cancelled until additional information becomes available.

We would like to remind you again that according to the CDC, COVID-19 is thought to be spread via person-to-person contact through contaminated air droplets from coughing and sneezing by an infected person.  Please continue to follow the recommended prevention measures:

  • Wash your hands regularly, especially after using the restroom and before preparing or consuming food. Using soap and hot water, wash for about 20 seconds. Be sure to also wash your fingertips.
  • Avoid coughing or sneezing into your hands or in the air. Always try to cough or sneeze into a tissue, and then throw the tissue away. If you don’t have a tissue, cough/sneeze into your arm.
  • As much as you can, avoid touching your eyes, mouth and nose.
  • As a reminder if you have traveled during spring break, follow the CDC guidelines regarding the need for health monitoring and possible self-quarantine.

I will continue to let you know on the status of our schools and how our students will be affected as I receive updated information, and finalize measures for serving our students during any extended break.  We appreciate your support in this unprecedented time.  Please continue to take care of yourselves.

Dr. Todd Grandjean

Dr. Neel on the Corona Virus: “We can slow this down.”

Don’t panic….just stay home–

The following is an interview with Doctor Richard Neel, who served as one of the subject-matter experts in the United States Pentagon for military defense of chemical and biological weapons from 1998-2003. Dr. Neel also has a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Harvard. Many locals will recognize him from the Little Alsace Urgent Care Clinic in Castroville.

“If everybody would just stay home for two weeks, it would stop the Corona Virus. In reality it’s not possible or practical for EVERYONE to stay home, but A LOT of people can stay home, and it would go a long way,” says Dr. Richard Neel. “Limit your person-to-person interaction and avoid large gatherings whenever possible. We have an opportunity to stop the spread right now, or at least slow it down to a crawl. And the sooner we stop the spread, the sooner we can get back to our normal lives.”

“The death rates of the Corona Virus are scary enough, but the additional percentage of people who survive the illness, who still become severely ill and wind up on a ventilator for a while and have permanent scarring to their lungs is looking like about 10-16%,” Neel said. “Look at the first patient in Italy (confirmed Feb.21st). They just announced that he was breathing on his own again a couple days ago, so he’s been a ventilator a long time, and he’s only 38 years old.”

“Statistics are evolving every day. As we are looking at data coming in from different countries, we are looking to the data that’s coming in from Italy and South Korea to get a better idea of what to expect and to hopefully learn lessons.”

“As far as I’m concerned, we haven’t had to deal with something this serious in my lifetime.  People are scared to speak up for fear of spreading misinformation, but everybody needs to hear and realize the seriousness of this, so that we can stop the spread of the virus,” Neel said.

He pointed to the way Italy’s medical facilities have been overwhelmed, and having to make decisions on who they will treat.

“Italy has good, modernized western medical capabilities, and they are already having to make decisions in Italy about who gets a ventilator and who doesn’t….That’s really sad, and we don’t want to get to that point,” Dr. Neel said.

“Italy went from 30 cases to 200 cases the next day, and then to 600 cases very quickly. We will find out very soon if Texas will spread the virus as rapidly as Italy did.”

Italy now has over 15,000 cases of Corona Virus.

“If you give this virus a chance, it’ll kill a lot more than the flu if as many people get infected with this virus as do with the flu. But we have an opportunity to stop it right now. It’s time for people to get on board and get serious about this. Make a few sacrifices in the short-term, so that we don’t have to deal with this in the long-term.”

“I am totally in favor of schools closing for 2 weeks, but please stay-put, and don’t go traveling across the country,” Neel said.

“It is possible to eradicate things like this virus. Small pox was eradicated. You just have to really get after it. Now, unlike small pox, this virus is spread in more ways than just person-to-person contact, but the way we eradicated small pox is a good example of what quarantine and isolation can do.”

“Two weeks is basically the incubation period for the virus. So if as many people as possible will stay home for two weeks, they can identify and self-isolate. A person can have the virus right now and be out there spreading the virus for two weeks before they ever become symptomatic,” Neel said.

 

Doctors now have testing kits for the virus, but have to send samples off to labs which will have a 48 hour turnaround, Neel estimates.

“For anybody over 80, the death rates are anywhere from 16-20 %, for those age 70-80- about 9%, and age 60-70 about 3-4%, and age 50-60 about 2%, and them it drops down to anywhere from .1-1% for people age 10-40,” Neel said.

“The real take home here is–we have an opportunity right now with schools out–to really stop the spread of the Corona Virus IF people that CAN stay home, DO stay home,” says Dr. Neel. “But that means staying home…don’t go out on a cross country trip because the kids are out of school. We have an opportunity to stop, or at least severely curtail the spread of this right now. The sooner we stop the spread, the sooner we can get back to our normal lives.”

By Kayleen Holder

The Devine News-Editor

The Devine News will provide daily updates, or as often as necessary to keep locals informed on community decisions regarding the Corona Virus in Devine and Medina County.

Devine ISD to close Monday, March 16 for students amid coronavirus (COVID-19) fears; Natalia, MV, Somerset, Jourdanton to close March 16-20

UPDATE:  Devine ISD has decided to close for the entire week as most other districts are. See separate story posted Saturday.

Devine ISD announced that there will be no school Monday, March 16, 2020 for students. Continue reading “Devine ISD to close Monday, March 16 for students amid coronavirus (COVID-19) fears; Natalia, MV, Somerset, Jourdanton to close March 16-20”

Senator Flores statement on Governor Abbott’s Statewide public health disaster declaration for all counties

The following was released by District 19 Texas Senator Pete Flores on Friday, March 13.

SAN ANTONIO – Senator Peter P. Flores issued the following statement on Governor Greg Abbott’s statewide public health disaster declaration:
Continue reading “Senator Flores statement on Governor Abbott’s Statewide public health disaster declaration for all counties”

Governor Abbott holds press conference on coronavirus, declares State of Disaster for all Texas counties

The following was released by Governor Greg Abbott’s office on Friday, March 13.

AUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott today held a press conference at the State Capitol to update the public on the status of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Texas and what the state is doing to protect public health. Continue reading “Governor Abbott holds press conference on coronavirus, declares State of Disaster for all Texas counties”