Reagan County Care Center Confirms 6 Cases of Coronavirus

BIG LAKE, TX — The Reagan County Care Center confirmed Thursday the case count of residents of testing positive for coronavirus appears to be on the rise after 5 new cases were confirmed.

According to My Big Lake, the Reagan Hospital District CEO Jonathon Voelkel confirmed the first case on Monday and the additional five on Thursday. As of Wednesday afternoon, the case count for Reagan County was 15, without counting the new cases.

"The good news is all six of those residents are doing well and are in stable condition," Voelkel said. "We are following FEMA and HHS guidelines as we navigate this situation. We have set up zones within the Care Center to mitigate the spread of the virus to other residents."

Testing began after multiple residents began exhibiting signs and symptoms associated with COVID-19.  The center will be conducting facility-wide testing for the virus. The center currently houses 32 residents.

"We do plan on conducting another round of full-scale testing at the facility," said Voelkel. "We ordered over 100 swab kits to be able to handle that level of testing. We received those late yesterday evening and have begun testing all residents and staff."

The center will confirm cases to local media at least 24 hours after the results are received. This allows the center to inform the patient's family and those who may have been in contact with the patient.

"We work hard to make sure the families of these residents are notified in an appropriate way first," said Voelkel. "Not only the family of the resident who tests positive but also the other families as well. Our first duty is to them, and we want to make sure that dialogue is open. After that 24-hour period, we are able to confirm the results. We not only want to be transparent with our residents and their families, but also the community."

"Those residents are their family," said Voelkel. "The staff at the Care Center has been diligent in their work to protect them. This virus a particularly pernicious and contagious bug. We are continuing to be aggressive on the fundamentals of handwashing, wearing appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment), and implementing social distancing."