SAN ANTONIO – 4/6/20 Update:
Two laboratory errors have resulted in Gillespie County having only one case of the coronavirus instead of three.
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According to a city of Fredericksburg press release, information reported by Gillespie County on the original two COVID-19 cases came directly from the Texas Department of State Health Services, which was notified by two independent labs that lab errors resulted in two false-positive reports of the virus.
The news release said the state health agency has never encountered a situation like this.
The case count has now been reduced from three to one.
4/5/20 Update:
A third case of COVID-19 is confirmed in Gillespie County, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The case was announced Sunday night and officials say the patient is currently quarantining at home.
The patient’s case is associated with community transmission, according to health officials.
Health officials say they are working to trace any close contacts of the patient that may have been exposed so they can be isolated and monitored for symptoms.
The county currently has two active COVID-19 cases and one case has recovered.
We’ll bring more updates as they become available.
Original:
Gillespie County has a second confirmed case of COVID-19, according to Fredericksburg officials.
The second case, associated with travel outside of Texas, was reported to the county after the person started experiencing mild symptoms, a news release sent to KSAT Friday states.
The first confirmed case is a county resident who contracted the virus while traveling within Texas.
Texas Department of State Health Services is currently working to identify anyone who may have come into contact with the patient while he/she was sick.
“We need to voluntarily restrict our travel for essential services and to maintain social distancing – minimum of 6 feet from others. Working together we can minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Gillespie County Judge Mark Stroeher.
Gillespie County is located about 75 miles northwest of San Antonio. Fredericksburg is the county seat.
Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic is not expected to peak in Texas until the end of April and one epidemiologist thinks “Texas is going to be the next hot spot.”
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE FROM KSAT: