UVALDE, Texas — The recent surge in novel coronavirus cases affected major cities across the country is also being observed in rural areas.
In Uvalde County, officials have seen such a sharp uptick in new diagnoses that one national publication ranks it among the Texas communities with the most cases per residents.
According to the New York Times's Texas Coronavirus Hot Spots tracker, Uvalde ranks number two out of all the counties in the state that has seen the most cases per residents in the last week.
In a small county like Uvalde, a surge in cases can have a massive impact. Local health authorities reported 421 new cases in the last two weeks.
County Health Authority Dr. Jared Reading said he estimates 80% of the new cases are a result of families gathering over the holidays.
“They are getting together, having parties and then getting sick,” Reading said.
For Reading, who has lived in Uvalde for the last decade, the effects of the virus overwhelming this rural county is personal.
“Watching your friends and your neighbors suffer, especially in a poor county (where) the county medium income is like $17,000 a year,” Reading said. “This is an economic disease as well because you have multi-generational families living in smaller locations.”
Reading said health officials are trying to stay a step ahead of further spread by quickly rolling out the vaccine.
“We’re getting it to those who need it as quickly as we can and appear to be on top of it compared to the rest of the state,” he said. .
That distribution also includes surrounding counties. The Uvalde Memorial Hospital serves a total of five, including Real, Edwards, Zavala and Kinney.
“The surrounding counties over here, some counties aren’t having vaccines distributed,” Reading said.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Uvalde County has received around 800 doses of the vaccine in the last four weeks.
Reading said they’ve made swift progress getting those in the Tier 1A group vaccinated, including the residents and staff of two nursing homes and all frontline workers.
Reading said they hope to roll out vaccines to the Tier 1B group soon, with an anticipated 400 vaccines arriving in the next week.
“I calculated that in Uvalde County, if I can get 100 people 65 or older vaccinated, I’ll probably prevent 20 hospitalizations, maybe up to 25,” said Reading. “So, trying to get it to people who need it the most is really our goal now.”