First COVID-19-related death reported in Burnet County
By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor
A 57-year-old woman who was a resident of Bertram Nursing Home & Rehabilitation Center has become Burnet County's first COVID-19 fatality, County Judge James Oakley announced Thursday, referring to information provided by the Burnet County Health Authority.
The woman passed away Tuesday, May 26, after having been bedridden for an extended time with cardiovascular disease as well as paralysis from a stroke, according to the released information. A long-time smoker, she succumbed to rapid onset pneumonia and then tested posthumously Tuesday (May 26) as positive for COVID-19.
“Contact tracing has identified a staff person that had very recently tested positive and had self quarantined,” Oakley stated in a social media post. “The entire facility was tested yesterday (May 27) and and all came back negative this morning.”
Burnet County's positive COVID-19 case count has now climbed to 34 after five more individuals tested positive in newly reported cases, including the fatality and two individuals who have been hospitalized.
However, the county only has eight active cases now that have not been listed as “recovered,”Oakley stated. And two of those cases reported on the total Burnet County count are tests that originated in Burnet County, but the individuals are from out of the area, leaving just 32 actual cases from Burnet County.
On May 20, a Burnet male in his 20s was reportedly hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19, while a male in his 20s from Marble Falls tested positive and was listed as hospitalized on Tuesday, May 26. A third male, in his 50s from Cottonwood Shores, also tested positive but was not hospitalized, as has a woman in her 20s from Briggs, Oakley reported.
In addition to those four individuals, only four others remain not listed as recovered — a male in his 70s from Bertram, a female in her 60s from Bertram, a female in her 60s from Burnet and a male in his 70s from Briggs, Oakley said. DSHS reports there have been 823 people tested in Burnet County through May 26.
Personnel from Ascension Seton Highland Lakes, in conjunction with Burnet city and county officials, are continuing to conduct nasal-swab COVID-19 testing at the Burnet County Fairgrounds each Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon. However, that testing will not be done without an order from a primary care physician or a virtual appointment through Ascension Seton Highland Lakes.
In Llano County, the COVID-19 case count remains at three cases with all recovered and no new cases having been reported in more than a month. The DSHS is reporting 477 people have been tested so far for COVID-19 in Llano County.
Statewide, there have been 1,563 COVID-19 fatalities as well as 57,921 positive cases reported as COVID-19 cases are found in 230 of Texas' 254 counties. There are 37,626 patients are estimated to have recovered from the illness, leaving 22,005 estimated active cases. A total of 961,861 people have been tested statewide, including viral and antibody testing. …
Find stories like this in The Highlander, the newspaper of record for the Highland Lakes. To offer a news tip or comment, email lew@highlandernews.com. To subscribe to the newspaper, call 830-693-4367 or click here to subscribe to our E-edition online.
