Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. the City of Pampa and Gray County were notified by the Texas Department of State Health Services of the second confirmed case of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in Gray County. After the first confirmed case, mayor Brad Pingel and Gray County judge issued a stay-at-home order on Wednesday in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.
While information is limited on the reported on both cases in Gray County, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed on their Facebook page the first case was an employee at the Jordan Unit.
“The 34-year-old worked at the facility on Friday March 27, 2020 and was sent home after entry screening showed a 101.2 temperature,” the post said. “They were seen by a doctor and tested on March 28. They are at home in good condition in self-quarantine”
The positive result moves our Alert Level to Red with more than one case in Gray County.
Up to date information can be found on our new web site www.pampaalerts.com.
In a video posted on YouTube and the City of Pampa’s Facebook page, mayor Brad Pingel, Gray County judge Chris Porter, Gray County health authority Dr. Kevin Sieck, Pampa Regional Medical Center Edwin Leon, Pampa Independent School District superintendent Dr. Tanya Larkin, Pampa city manager Shane Stokes, emergency management coordinator Wes Schaffer and public information officer Dustin Miller.
Following the orders by Texas governor Greg Abbott, Pingel said the City of Pampa was issuing an executive order for Pampa residents to stay home, effective at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, April 2.
“This order will follow the same guidelines as the governor put out in his order yesterday,” Pingel said. “Essential businesses and services are to remain open. We cannot stress enough how important it is for our community to abide by these. Just to keep and our people safe and to slow the spread of COVID-19.”
Pingel added at times it is easy to see an order come down from the State and think that whatever is affecting the rest of the state, such as COVID-19, won’t affect “small-town Pampa.”
“The reality of the matter is, it is,” Pingel said. “It is here in Pampa and we have to protect ourselves. We as citizens have to do our part.”
Pingel passed the podium to Porter, who opened by saying Pampa and Gray County is a resilient population.
“We’ve been through oil busts, oil booms, tornadoes, dust bowls, plant explosions and community tragedies,” Porter said. “At this time I’m asking everybody to pay attention to what we are really asking you do to.”
Porter stressed the importance of everyone to stay home and not to get out on the streets.
“I’m asking you to stay home with your families and protect them,” Porter said. “I’m asking you to stay healthy and try not to spread this virus that is unseen. You cannot tell who has it and doesn’t have it.”
Porter touched on the law enforcement and said each of the departments (Gray County Sheriff’s Office, Pampa Police Department, Texas DPS) have a tough job in these times trying to stop those who look to prey on the innocent.
Porter then welcomed Dr. Sieck to the microphone.
Dr. Sieck thanked the healthcare community for working together and providing care to Gray County. Dr. Sieck said her nor the County could divulge the name of the positive case nor their address or place of business.
“What I can tell you is the positive case is a Gray County resident and it has been found it was related to travel,” Dr. Sieck said. “The person is not hospitalized and those are basically the details I can give you.”
Dr. Sieck said the State health department will contact residents if they were possibly exposed and what they need to do in the event of the positive case.
Dr. Sieck stressed the importance of washing hands, cleaning surfaces and following the stay-at-home order.
“We like to get out and about, see our friends and be social,” Dr. Sieck said. “We like to travel. All of those things need to stop. We have to social distance. We like to go out and get our essentials. You need to do that and go home. That’s what it means. It doesn’t mean it’s a social event to go out and get your essentials now.”
Dr. Sieck added he hasn’t seen social distancing in the community in the last couple weeks and suggested Pampa was in a false sense of security.
“We hadn’t had a positive test,” Dr. Sieck said. “Now we’ve had a positive test. That shouldn’t change what we do. We have to be very diligent in our social distancing because social distancing is the only thing that’ll slow the spread of a disease.”
Dr. Sieck explained that the point of “flattening the curve” is to stop an influx of severely ill patients into the hospital.
“The surge like that has hurt many hospitals around the nation and we’ve all seen it,” Dr. Sieck said. “We have a sister hospital in Michigan who had a surge from 22 patients to 79 patients overnight. We all have to do our part to prevent that. That means stay at home.”
Dr. Sieck said essential business does not mean “business as usual.” It means practice social distancing, cleaning facilities and limiting the amount of employees in your facility.
“You need to think about what you’re doing when you go to business,” Dr. Sieck said. “You don’t need to have meetings with more than 10 people. We at the hospital, most of our meetings are over teleconference.”
Individuals need to call their healthcare provider if they are sick.
“We don’t want to keep you from seeking medical care if you need medical care,” Dr. Sieck said. “But we need you to call so we can direct you in the proper place.”
Dr. Sieck said tele-health is available where area doctors can contact the individual and stressed if you’re sick, stay at home.
Dr. Sieck turned the podium over to Leon, who reassured the public PRMC has worked tirelessly to protect the community and prepare the facilities for COVID-19.
“We’ve worked extremely hard to get the supplies we need,” Leon said. “We don’t want to see that outbreak and it’s extremely important that we abide by these state-wide guidelines.”
Leon said PRMC has limited visits to the hospital and access to the hospital.
“We ask for your cooperation, patience and support,” Leon said. “Not just for the hospital, your officials, but especially for each other. Do the right thing, stay at home.”
Dr. Larkin took the podium next and showed appreciation for the leaders in the community and the level of care they are showing.
Dr. Larkin said the school district has taken measures to stop the spread of the virus, which included following Governor Abbott’s order to close schools until May 4. This measure has led to the change in meal distributions and technological distance learning.
“Beginning next week we will not longer be doing a breakfast and a lunch distribution,” Dr. Larkin said. “We will be moving to one distribution at lunch time and provide two meals at that time. We will also be changing our technology office open hours, as well.”
Pingel then took the podium and introduced a new website where citizens can get information on the City and the COVID-19 response: www.pampaalerts.com.
“This website is going to be a great tool for you to log into,” Pingel said. “It’ll have information on COVID-19 that affects Pampa and Gray County, as well as the stay-at-home order.”
Pingel addressed a few of the stay-at-home order guidelines.
• Unless it’s a medical need, stay local.
• Travel to another person’s place of residence for goods and services, then go at home.
• Anyone who is sick or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, stay home.
Failure to do so can result in fines or jail time, but Pingel said it’s about caring for each other and taking care of Pampa. He then thanked all of the leaders for their hard work.
The full video can be found at this link: https://bit.ly/2JAfeZS
