Few signs coronavirus spread slowing in Lubbock

LUBBOCK — The county of Lubbock reported 772 new coronavirus cases and four additional deaths on Monday, continuing a trend of increased daily cases and deaths, with few signs of the spread slowing any time soon.

Lubbock currently has 25,810 confirmed cases since March, according to state health officials, and about 25 percent of those cases have been confirmed this month.

Lubbock Health Authority Dr. Ron Cook said the city is doing everything it can under Gov. Greg Abbott’s orders to mitigate the spread, including closing bars and keeping restaurant capacity at 50 percent. However, Cook said it’s up to citizens to be responsible and follow those orders.

“People need to realize how serious this is,” Cook said. “We don’t need the governor or the mayor to tell us what to do, we should know what to do and that’s social distancing, wearing our masks and not getting in crowds and spreading the virus.”

There was a decrease in hospitalized patients, from 320 on Sunday down to 299 on Monday with 83 patients in the ICU, but the Lubbock Trauma Service Area still had 25.27 percent of its hospitalizations as COVID-19 cases — above the 15 percent threshold set by Abbott last month.

With medical tents being placed in the city last week as a result of overwhelmed hospitals and caregivers, Cook warned that slowing the virus down has to happen before more people get sick.

“Unless we slow it down before it gets to the hospitals, then they will continue to be overrun,” Cook said. “And it’s not just because we have people throughout the region here, these are Lubbockites. All those numbers posted by the Health Department are Lubbock residents.”

Cook recalled that recently, a patient was needing to be transferred to Lubbock for an emergency surgery out of a small town nearby, and the patient died waiting because there wasn’t a bed available.

“Those things happen here, in our region, and it’s sad,” Cook said. “Our people can stop that. We know masks, social distancing and washing your hands work, and right now we only have those three things to slow down this virus.”

At Texas Tech University, 58 new cases were reported among students and 19 among employees. There have been 2,664 cases at the university — 2,236 cases from students — and there are 322 active cases. Tech’s numbers are included in Lubbock County’s although the reporting may be off by a day.

The city of Lubbock is reporting 4,838 cases that are active.

Texas has recorded 1.09 million coronavirus cases and 19,579 COVID-19 related fatalities.