As the first COVID-19 vaccines were delivered in Texas and area hospitals prepared for their own deliveries later in the week, Jefferson County recorded its deadliest day during the pandemic on Monday.
Beaumont and Port Arthur’s health departments reported 12 deaths: six in Beaumont, three in Port Arthur, one in Groves and two in Nederland.
It was the highest death day for Beaumont; the countywide total doubled the previous record set on Oct. 7. The U.S. passed a new milestone as well, with 300,000 deaths and counting.
Related: Jefferson Co. surpasses 10K COVID cases
Locally, 101 patients at Christus St. Elizabeth and Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas were being treated for active COVID-19 cases and 26 were on ventilators.
Infected patients occupied 18.3% of all general and intensive-care-unit beds in the region, data reported Monday by the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council show.
“Our hospitals are overwhelmed,” Beaumont Public Health Director Sherry Ulmer said. “This is serious, extremely serious.”
Beaumont reported 66 new cases on Monday, and Port Arthur reported 74 new cases in the south and Mid-County area.
The latest fallout from the Thanksgiving holiday spike followed 49 cases reported out of Beaumont on Saturday and 22 from Sunday.
Ulmer said the city’s 14-day average was 50 cases per day as of Friday.
“We want to emphasize, people shouldn’t be allowing outside persons into their family units,” she said. “If they are not a part of their household family groups, they shouldn’t allow them into their homes.”
In adjacent Hardin County, public health officials reported about 70 cases from over the weekend. Almost all of which were from tests before the Thanksgiving holiday and were traced to family gatherings, or so contact tracers have been told.
“We’ve seen more issues with finding information, and instances where people have asked their friends and family not to report if they’ve been around them because they don’t want to miss work,” Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel said.
McDaniel said it appears new cases have not come from residents shopping or visiting local restaurants, but public health officials cannot be sure because of growing issues with people providing false or incomplete information.
Ulmer expressed similar concerns over contact tracing’s reliability in Beaumont.
Regardless of the source of infections, delays in getting some results could mean the area has yet to see the full viral impact of Thanksgiving gatherings.
Previous: Southeast Texas expects nearly 3K COVID vaccines next week
The trauma service area monitored by the state that includes Jefferson County has been hovering around the 15% mark for the past several days, which could lead to a rollback to 50% occupancy in businesses and the closure of bars. The final call will come from the state based on its own calculations.
McDaniel said he expects the area will have to curtail openings after a call with state officials on Wednesday.
As cases continue to rise, medical providers will face the probability of dealing with its largest outbreak so far while also preparing to administer vaccinations.
Beaumont Mayor Becky Ames said local governments have been told that the first round of vaccines will be handled in partnership with local hospitals and state health services, but Beaumont is gathering information and going through exercises to eventually help with distribution when the more easily handled Moderna vaccine is available.
Officials with both Christus and Baptist have said their Beaumont hospitals will likely receive the Pfizer vaccines sometime after Wednesday and have prioritized physicians and healthcare workers working closely with COVID patients.
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Texas’ four largest metropolitan areas — Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio — received 19,500 doses on Monday and 19 other areas will receive 75,075 doses on Tuesday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The remaining 86 of 109 distribution sites outlined in the state’s plans — including both Beaumont hospitals — are expected to receive doses later in the week.
The department has already tempered expectations for mass distribution, citing limitations on doses and the technical challenges of keeping vaccines at subzero temperatures.
“As expected, the initial vaccine supply is limited, and the first week’s allocation is based on information submitted by vaccine providers when they enrolled, including the number of health care workers who can be quickly vaccinated and vaccine storage capacity at each site,” State Health Services representatives wrote on the agency’s website.
“More vaccines will be available for more providers in the following weeks, including vaccine from Moderna once it is authorized.”
Ames reflected on the pandemic’s personal toll, after a family friend died from the virus on Saturday.
“It’s even harder when you have lost people very close to you, and six people died today in our city that all had families of their own,” she said. “I know how I felt on Saturday… it just devastates you.”
jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com
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