Longtime Alamo resident, Marvin Herring, passed away due to complications from COVID-19, his family confirmed. The 80-year-old leaves his wife, many family members and friends behind after a six-week battle with the disease.
As the community records its third death due to the pandemic, new case numbers have been relatively low in recent weeks. However, a high positivity rate per COVID test still has health officials concerned.
With the beginning of 2021 upon us, Missie Rowe of Grover C. Dils Medical Center warns that it is easy to become complacent, but everyone should remain vigilant as the state and country continue to see high case numbers.
On Dec. 29, five new cases were reported since the 24th.
- Alamo – 63 positive cases (same)
- Caliente – 112 positive cases (five new)
- Panaca – 52 (same)
- Pioche – 41 (same)
- Other – 9 (same)
Rowe asks members of the community to still exercise caution, since these numbers only tell a small part of the story. According to Rowe, testing has seen a large decline as well. This could be due to a variety of reasons, including the weather and COVID fatigue.
“People are just over it,” Rowe said.
However, the number that the medical professionals at Grover C. Dils are concerned with the most is the ratio of total tests to positive results, which stands at 50 percent. This means that the disease is still alive in our communities, despite what the numbers may say. Flu season also typically begins in January. County medical staff caution the community that they need to understand the symptoms of these two different diseases.
“COVID isn’t going away with the new year,” Rowe cautions, “and our state continues to be hit pretty hard.”
The first Tier 1 Moderna vaccinations in Lincoln County were administered over the last week. So far, there have been no major reported side effects outside of sore arms and the occasional bout of nausea and fatigue.