On March 18, 2020, the City of Amarillo reported two people in the Texas Panhandle had contracted COVID-19. Since then, nearly 30,000 residents in Potter and Randall counties have contracted the virus, with more than 480 dead.
The multitude of COVID-19 cases have affected hospital capacity for the BSA Healthcare System, the Northwest Texas Healthcare System and the Amarillo VA Healthcare System. The end result has been frontline healthcare workers accumulating countless hours extending care to hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
The tireless efforts of these individuals is why the Amarillo Globe-News is naming frontline healthcare workers the 2020 Men and Women of the Year, presented by FirstBank Southwest.
Area school board members up for election
Four area school board positions for the Amarillo Independent School District, Canyon ISD and River Road ISD, respectively, will be up for re-election May 1. The first day to file an application on the ballot for each district is Jan. 13, 2021, and that period lasts through Feb. 12.
The open positions in Amarillo ISD are currently held by Doyle Corder, Robin Malone, Kayla Mendez and David Nance. The open positions in Canyon ISD are currently held by Randy Darnell, Bill Jenkins, Matt Parker and Jennifer Winegarner. The open positions in River Road ISD are currently held by Amanda Brown, Danielle Coleman, Dana Finley and Brian Shannon.
AGN Media
On Wednesday, Dec. 30, the city of Amarillo began extending COVID-19 vaccine availability to individuals meeting criteria defined under the State of Texas Phase 1B COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation initiative.
Per a media release issued by the city on Wednesday morning, Phase 1B includes individuals 65 years of age and older and people 18 years of age and older with at least one chronic medical condition that puts them at increased risk for severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19. We have had 10,000 doses of vaccine shipped to us so far, Casie Stoughton, the city s Public Health Department director, said during Wednesday s city COVID-19 virtual news conference.
Doctors share if recovered COVID-19 patients should get the COVID-19 vaccine
VIDEO: Doctors share if recovered COVID-19 patients should get the COVID-19 vaccineC By Vania Patino | December 29, 2020 at 9:58 PM CST - Updated December 30 at 12:38 AM
This means they now have antibodies that could help ward off the virus in the future.
However, although rare, there is a possibility of getting COVID-19 more than once.
But Panhandle health experts point out that the CDC has not released any official guidance on whether these individuals need the vaccine.
“There has been lots of science that is looked at, on antibody levels after people have been infected and they seem to drop off fairly quickly, you know in a matter of few months,” said Dr. Scott Milton, infectious disease specialist at Texas Tech Physicians “The question is how much of that do you need to be protected.”
On Sunday, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported a COVID-19 hospitalization rate of 21.5% for Trauma Service Area A, a slight increase from Saturday’s rate of 21.34%.