COVID-19 has rapidly spread among residents and staff at Runningwater Draw Care Center, taxing some resources and personnel.

Administrator Dona Thompson said the center was notified at 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 1 that an employee who resides in Littlefield had tested positive for the coronavirus.

“The employee wore a mask the entirety of their last shift, which was worked on June 28, 2020, but did provide direct care to residents during that shift,” the administrator said.

At 5:30 p.m. the next day, the facility had another confirmed case — an employee who resides in Plainview. And on Friday, a resident in the center’s Periwinkle secured unit tested positive. That prompted RDCC to isolate the secured unit in the hope that exposure could be limited.

“All residents in the Periwinkle secured unit are isolated to the unit and will be monitored for signs and symptoms,” the administrator said at the time. “We have increased isolation procedures, as well as staffing strictly to the unit and not co-mingling staff with the rest of the facility.”

However, 13 more residents — all residing in the Periwinkle secured unit — tested positive Monday and were confirmed to have COVID-19.

Read the complete story in the July 10, 2020 issue of the Olton Enterprise

How many active cases of COVID-19 does Lamb County have?

That became a pretty important question after Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order mandating facial coverings in counties with more than 20 active cases. Yet, there were at least four different answers Tuesday before Lamb County Judge Mike DeLoach began asking questions of state officials about the inconsistencies.

A Lubbock television station was reporting 50 active cases, which led Lamb County residents to think facial coverings were required in public places. The Lamb County Web site had a total that was less than 20 that led residents to think face masks were not required in public places. Texas Department of Emergency Management and Department of State Health Services were both reporting 28 active cases Tuesday, which would mean facial coverings were required. Common knowledge of persons having tested positive yet not officially confirmed yielded lots of different numbers depending on what active cases you knew about and what definition you used for active cases.

Read the complete story in the July 10, 2020 issue of the Olton Enterprise

Governor Greg Abbott today issued an Executive Order requiring all Texans to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth in public spaces in counties with 20 or more positive COVID-19 cases, with few exceptions. The Governor also issued a proclamation giving mayors and county judges the ability to impose restrictions on some outdoor gatherings of over 10 people, and making it mandatory that, with certain exceptions, people cannot be in groups larger than ten and must maintain six feet of social distancing from others. 

"Wearing a face covering in public is proven to be one of the most effective ways we have to slow the spread of COVID-19,” said Governor Abbott. “We have the ability to keep businesses open and move our economy forward so that Texans can continue to earn a paycheck, but it requires each of us to do our part to protect one another—and that means wearing a face covering in public spaces. Likewise, large gatherings are a clear contributor to the rise in COVID-19 cases. Restricting the size of groups gatherings will strengthen Texas’ ability to corral this virus and keep Texans safe. We all have a responsibility to slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep our communities safe. If Texans commit to wearing face coverings in public spaces and follow the best health and safety practices, we can both slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep Texas open for business. I urge all Texans to wear a face covering in public, not just for their own health, but for the health of their families, friends, and for all our fellow Texans.”

Additionally, the Governor released a new video message to coincide with his Executive Order, encouraging Texans to do their part to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and keep their communities safe. 

The video can be downloaded at this link and can also be viewed on YouTube.

View the Governor's Executive Order.

View the Governor's Proclamation.

The latest community event casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic is the one-day Wingin’ It 2020 Festival, which Olton Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture had plan to stage Aug. 1 as a replacement for the four-day Sandhills Celebration.

Chamber directors canceled the event Monday, shortly after Olton’s first COVID-19 case was confirmed and confirmation of several more cases appeared imminent.

In a statement released Tuesday, Chamber directors explained their decision.

“At that time, Gov. Greg Abbott allowed outdoor gatherings and our city officials agreed that we could proceed with Wingin’ It 2020. COVID-19 had yet to enter our community and we were hopeful that it would stay that way. COVID-19 has taken many things away from us, but we didn’t want it to take away one evening,” they said.

But conditions changed quickly, and those changes prompted the cancellation of the Wingin’ It 2020 Festival.

“We were all excited to be able to do this for our community,” Chamber directors said. “However, we knew that the health and safety of our community would always come first, and that is why yesterday, after the first confirmed case in Olton was announced, it was discussed whether we should proceed.  After discussion, the OCCA board unanimously decided it was in the best interest of our community to forgo our plans on Saturday, Aug. 1.”

However, the Chamber is moving forward with the Sandhills Sweetheart Scholarship Pageant, which is scheduled to take place Thursday, July 30. But the pageant, which will be broadcast on Facebook Live, will be different from years past.

Read the complete story in the July 3, 2020 issue of the Olton Enterprise