COVID-19 Update for Montgomery County for March 17

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX – Montgomery County Public Health District, in conjunction with Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management, would like to provide an update to our citizens on COVID-19. At this time, we want to encourage residents to practice social distancing. It is important to stay home and away from crowds. County Judge Mark Keough made an announcement regarding restaurants and bars. The county order requires bars and restaurants to limit visitors to under 50 and place tables 10 feet away from one another.

Tips for the general public:

?Wash hands often for 20 seconds and encourage others to do the same.
?If no soap and water are available, use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
?Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, then throw the tissue away.
?Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
?Disinfect surfaces, buttons, handles, knobs, and other places touched often.
?Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

In Montgomery County, and in the rest of the nation, testing supplies are limited. Tests are being performed at private medical offices, urgent cares and hospitals in Montgomery County that are using private labs. By law, providers (hospitals, physicians, etc.) are only required to notify Public Health of POSITIVE results. We are no longer receiving the numbers on all tests performed in Montgomery County. At this time, we have received 4 positive tests. According to MCPHD internal numbers (which do not include all numbers regarding private labs in the county), there are 22 tests that have come back NEGATIVE, and 60 tests are pending.

Here are updates on Montgomery County’s current cases:

Case # 1 - A man in his 40s, from Northwest Montgomery County, is still hospitalized. He remains in critical condition. As a result of our investigation, we do believe he contracted the virus as a result of community spread.

Case # 2 - A woman, in her 40s, who resides in Southeast Montgomery County. She remains in a hospital in Harris County, in critical condition.

Case # 3 - A man, in his 40s, from Northwest Montgomery County. He is at home, recovering well.

Case # 4 - A woman, in her 40s, who resides in Northwest Montgomery County. She remains at home in isolation, doing well. Her case is connected to Case # 3.

*Note - The CDC will no longer provide confirmations on presumptive positive cases. Cases that test positive in local labs will now be considered confirmed upon a positive result.

Patients with confirmed 2019-nCoV infection have reportedly had mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough, and/or shortness of breath. The CDC believes that symptoms of 2019-nCoV may appear in as few as 2 days or as long as 14 days after exposure.

For more information, please see https://www.dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/.

Montgomery County Public Health District’s mission is promoting a healthy, resilient community through health education, disease prevention, clinical services, and emergency preparedness. For more information about the Montgomery County Public Health District please go to www.mcphd-tx.org.