COVID-19 Has Hit Texas Prison System
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which is the official name of the agency that handles the Texas prison system, has announced that three individuals have tested positive for COVID-19. One inmate, one employee and one contract worker have been identified as being positive for this latest version of coronavirus. The KSAT 12 article shows a picture of Dominguez State Jail but does not say if that was the location of the infected individuals. They may just have used it like a stock photo. We don’t even know if the individuals were all from the same jail.
Any jail or prison is major breeding place for disease, especially one as contagious as COVID-19. People are in enclosed spaces together. They can’t practice social distancing. TDCJ says they have implemented aggressive screening processes to catch and stop the spread of this virus. We can only hope those processes will be enough.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Infected Person in Wilson County Shopped at HEB
Everyone is being told that you should stay home. We are being told that you should only be going out for necessary items like groceries and medicines. Just because officials say you can go out for those things does not mean you are safe. A person in Wilson County tested positive for COVID-19. Before that person knew he or she was infected, the individual went to the HEB in La Vernia. The MySanAntonio.com article wrote, “Officials said that anyone who visited a H-E-B store in La Vernia between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Mar. 18 may have been exposed. The store is located at 14414 U.S. 87 West.”
That’s fine except one of the problems is people shed the virus when they cough, sneeze and even in droplets of saliva when they speak. Not only could the person have infected others directly but there is the possibility of contamination anywhere that person was. If at all possible, have your groceries delivered and left on your doorstep. If not, use curbside pick up. Do not take others with you for the ride. For anything that needs your signature, have the person go to the passenger side of the vehicle, open your window only enough to pass in the clipboard, and take it that way so you can put as much distance between you and the other person, as possible. When you get home, wipe all the containers down with a sanitizing wipes and wash all the vegetables with soap and water. Don’t forget to thoroughly wash your hands afterwards.
San Antonio is Not Keeping Us Informed
From what we know so far, Bexar County has 120 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with five deaths from the disease. The problem with that, is that our city officials are doing a poor job of keeping us informed. For one of the largest cities in the country you would think that San Antonio could do a better job of getting us accurate information. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Dillon Collier with KSAT 12 reported on the problems they are having getting information from the city. Problems that include a failure to set up mapping that shows things like testing and where positive results have shown up. That mapping system hasn’t even been built yet, according to the San Antonio Metropolitan Health Director. Also, the city is being haphazard in when they choose to release information and secretive about what information they will release.
While we applaud Judge Wolff and Mayor Nirenberg for issuing the stay home directive, it is not enough. A lot of people are listening to Trump and Fox. They don’t believe this virus is a serious threat. It’s important to see a hot map of how many cases there are, how much testing is being done (hint: not enough) and where those positive cases are located, so that people can start accepting that this is a major crisis and they can do their part by breaking the chain to diminish the spread.