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December 15, 2020 - The Texas COVID-19 Dashboard as of 5:10pm December 15, 2020 reports 40 estimated recoveries lowing the number of active cases reported yesterday of 94 to today's active case count of 59. New cases reported overnight were a total of 5 with 4 being confirmed cases and 1 probable case.
December 15th Numbers:
Total Confirmed Cases - 627 (4 new cases)
Total Probable Cases - 344 (1 new case)
Total Fatalities - 39
Total Estimated Active Cases - 59
Total Estimated Recovered - 873
December 15, 2020 - Heads up! Crews in Shelby and Nacogdoches counties are pre-treating roadways today in the event of winter weather later tonight or early Wednesday morning. Motorists should reduce speed as crews apply the brine mixture to problem areas and elevated surfaces.
TxDOT Lufkin District invite you to visit the new Facebook page, @TxDOTLufkinTx, where you will find traffic alerts, construction updates and safety messages. In addition, the Lufkin District Twitter page, @TxDOTLufkin will continue to be a social media page where you will find real time information.
December 14, 2020 - The Texas COVID-19 Dashboard as of 5:55pm December 14, 2020 reports 9 new cases of COVID-19. The active count climbed to 94 without any estimated recoveries to offset the new cases.
December 14th Numbers:
Total Confirmed Cases - 623 (2 new cases)
Total Probable Cases - 343 (7 new cases)
Total Fatalities - 39
Total Estimated Active Cases - 94
Total Estimated Recovered - 833
Update: No change was report Sunday, December 13, 2020.
December 13, 2020 - The Texas COVID-19 Dashboard as of December 12, 2020 reports 15 new cases of COVID-19 overnight and 1 new death. The active count is 85 which calculates to 1 recovery to the 15 new cases.
December 12th Numbers:
Total Confirmed Cases - 621 (no change)
Total Probable Cases - 336 (15 new cases)
Total Fatalities - 39 (1 new)
Total Estimated Active Cases - 85
Total Estimated Recovered - 833
December 11, 2020 - The Texas DSHS COVID-19 Dashboard has released the new numbers for Shelby County. As of 5pm December 11th, the new numbers show 71 active estimated cases. The total number of Confirmed Cases is 621 and the total number of Probable Cases is 321. Confirmed Cases were previously refered to as Cumulative Cases and are the total number of cases since March 27th when the first case was reported.
The dashboard also reports an additional death over night for a total of 38 deaths from COVID-19 for Shelby County.
According to the cases over time for Shelby County, for December 11th only 1 new case was reported in the confirmed cases. Since the Probable Cases data is new, the daily increase is unknown at this time; however, it should be available in the future as the data is compiled.
Earlier today DSHS reported an update for their Texas COVID-19 Dashboard which would now reflect the Probable Cases along with the Confirmed Cases. Click here to read the press release regarding the change in reporting.
Definitions explaining which tests are Confirmed Cases or Probable Cases:
- Confirmed Case - A person who has tested positive through a molecular test that looks for the virus’s genetic material. Texas uses the confirmed case definition adopted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Molecular Tests - Tests that diagnose current infections by looking for a germ’s genetic material. For COVID-19, Molecular Tests include nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT), reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests and loop mediated isothermic amplification (LAMP) tests. Does not include antigen tests. A positive molecular test is required to meet criteria as a confirmed case.
- Probable Case - A person who has either tested positive through an antigen test or has a combination of symptoms and a known exposure to someone with COVID-19 without a more likely diagnosis. Texas uses the probable case definition adopted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Antigen Tests - A nasal swab test that can show a current infection by looking for proteins on the outside of a germ. They can be performed rapidly where the test is collected. Under the national case definitions, positive antigen tests indicate probable cases, not confirmed cases.
December 11, 2020 - The Texas Department of State Health Services today will update the COVID-19 data dashboard to include additional data and to simplify the layout to improve functionality.
DSHS is adding case counts for probable cases statewide and by county. Probable cases are those identified through antigen testing or a combination of symptoms and a known exposure without a more likely diagnosis. Reporting probable cases allows Texans to see a more complete picture of how COVID-19 is affecting Texas since both confirmed and probable cases represent active infections. For that reason, they will be included in the estimates of active and recovered cases.
In addition to the probable case counts, DSHS is adding a positivity rate for antigen tests. This positivity rate, based on when people were tested, aligns with the most reliable positivity rate for molecular tests. These positivity rates, which show the percentage of tests taken in a given period that are positive, provide a consistent view of the severity of the pandemic over time because they most closely reflect the conditions when people were tested.
The configuration of the dashboard will change to improve performance. Some tabs will be combined, and users will be able to toggle between confirmed and probable cases, fatalities, and active and recovered estimates by county on a single tab. Case and fatality demographics will also be consolidated onto one tab.
“These dashboard refinements are part of our effort to continually improve our insight and response to the ongoing pandemic,” said Dr. John Hellerstedt, DSHS commissioner. “The development and increased use of antigen testing to detect current infections prompted the inclusion of probable case counts and the antigen test positivity rate in the data we post daily. The trends in this and other data shape our understanding of the course of the pandemic in Texas.”
After several months of posting three positivity rates for molecular tests, as previously announced, DSHS will retire the rates based on when lab results were reported to the state and the legacy rate which used the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases over seven days divided by the number of new molecular test results over the same period.
December 10, 2020 - Hurst Street in Center was the scene of a major two-vehicle crash Tuesday, December 8, 2020.
According to Center Police Officer Maegan Wright, at just before 6pm a black 2007 Kia Sportage driven by Heather Stokes, 29, of Center with two passengers, aged 13 and 8, was southbound on Hurst Street attempting a left turn. At that time a gold 2002 Ford Super Duty F-250 pickup truck and trailer were northbound on Hurst Street driven by Ubiliado Cardenas Garcia, 35, of Center with passenger Jose Jimenez, 53, of Center.
Stokes failed to yield right of way while turning left and struck the Ford pickup truck. In an attempt to avoid the collision with an evasive lane change, the truck rolled over in the ditch in front of Center First UPC.
No injuries were reported at the scene of any parties involved in the crash.
Stokes was issued citations for no insurance and fail to yield right of way turning left.
December 10, 2020 - As of Thursday, December 10, 2020 the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) reports Shelby County now has a cumulative case count of 620 with only 17 active cases currently. The largest single day increase was on December 8th with a daily count of 6 new cases. The total increase since the November 22nd report is 23 new cases.
The probable case counts have yet to be reported on the Texas COVID-19 Dashboard. The probable cases include positive test results from the antigen tests that provide results to the patient in approximately 15 minutes. Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Kerri Shofner reported 51 probable active cases as of today.
November 23rd - 0 new cases (Cumulative total 597)
November 24th - 0 new cases (Cumulative total 597)
November 25th - 1 new case (Cumulative total 598)
November 26th - 1 new case (Cumulative total 599)
November 27th - 1 new case (Cumulative total 600)
November 28th - 0 new cases (Cumulative total 600)
November 29th - 0 new cases (Cumulative total 600)
November 30th - 0 new cases (Cumulative total 600)
December 1st - 1 new case (Cumulative total 601)
December 2nd - 1 new case (Cumulative total 602)
December 3rd - 3 new cases (Cumulative total 605)
December 4th - 1 new case (Cumulative total 606)
December 5th - 3 new cases (Cumulative total 609)
December 6th - 0 new cases (Cumulative total 609)
December 7th - 0 new cases (Cumulative total 609)
December 8th - 6 new cases (Cumulative total 615)
December 9th - 2 new cases (Cumulative total 617)
December 10th - 3 new cases (Cumulative total 620)
DSHS also reports 1 new death for Shelby County due to COVID-19 for a cumulative count of 37.
December 10, 2020 - The West Shelby County Volunteer Fire Department (WSCVFD) was dispatched to a structure fire three miles from State Highway 7 West on FM 2913 just before it transitions to CR 1520 Wednesday, December 9, 2020.
When the firemen arrived just after 3pm, additional support from Martinsville Volunteer Fire Department also arrived on the scene. The structure apparently had been burning long before the fire department was alerted and was completely burned down, aside from some fuel tanks located in and around the structure which apparently no longer contained fuel.
The fire burned through portions of a neighboring field just over 142 acres in size and into woods surrounding the property.
The Texas Forest Service was called in to the location to dig a line around the fire and help prevent further spread.
A cause for the fire was not yet determined at the time of the fire.
December 8, 2020 - The intersection of Hurst Street and Roughrider Drive was the scene of a major two-vehicle crash Sunday, December 6, 2020 at around 9:40pm.
By chance, Center Police Officers drove up on the scene of the crash just after it occurred and began calling for additional emergency assistance.
A white 2005 Cadillac Escalade SUV driven by a 16-year-old minor passenger was disabled on the westbound side of Roughrider Drive and a green 2000 Mitsubishi Mirage passenger car driven by Guadalupe Valdez, 39, of Center remained at the intersection facing west.
Center Fire Department fire personnel responded to the crash where they utilized Jaws-of-Life to help extricate passengers from within the Mitsubishi, where an infant was involved.
Valdez; a 9-year-old front seat passenger; Maria Duran, 38; and an infant were all transported by ambulance for treatment of unknown injuries. Duran was also transported by helicopter to UT Tyler for additional treatment.
The two 16-year-old passengers of the Escalade and passenger Nigel Moore, 20, of Logansport were all transported by ambulance for treatment of unknown injuries.
The crash remains under investigation by Center Police Officer Michael Davidson assisted at the scene by Officer Maegan Wright.
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