A third person dies as COVID-19 cases reach 151 in county

As of Wednesday morning, the number of people in Gonzales County contracting COVID-19 had increased by nearly half over the previous week to 151 with a third death from the virus being reported Tuesday evening.

“We have 34 active cases and 104 have recovered,” County Judge Patrick Davis said Tuesday afternoon, before 11 new cases and the third death were reported.

On May 26 the count had crossed the 100-case line and has been steadily rising. Emergency Management Coordinator Jimmy Harless reported on Monday that 14 people were tested at a site in Nixon. Davis said he expects the number of reported cases in the county to climb once those results come back. Prior to the Nixon tests, 499 people had been tested in the county.

“Hopefully we’re getting to the end of the line (of COVID-19 cases),” Davis said.

The report on Monday was an increase of three from the weekend. All three are isolating at home. Two are located in an unincorporated part of the county and the third is in Gonzales. On Tuesday evening 11 more cases were reported in the county plus the third death, a person from Waelder.

Davis noted that many of the county’s earliest cases were reported in industrial areas in the northern part of the county. He said he hopes the number of new cases will start slowing within the next few weeks.

He advised people “to not worry about where COVID is; it’s everywhere.”

He said most people should be safe as long as they adhere to prescribed precautions such as frequent handwashing, practicing social distancing, and wearing face coverings in public.