COVID-19 cases on the decline in Collin County; more testing kits still needed

Collin County says the number of its active COVID-19 coronavirus cases continues to decline since the peak of cases officials saw on April 9.

Collin County reported 190 current cases on Monday and 324 recoveries. So far, 13 people have died from COVID-19 in the county.

On April 9, Collin County experienced a peak of 226 active cases. Since then, their number of active cases has declined to around 190.

County officials say access to testing kits continues to be a challenge, and they continue to try and work with the state and federal governments to secure more testing.

County leaders also say they've been fielding a lot of questions from residents about lack of testing. They say the county health department only tracks test results and the course of outbreaks. The county has also gotten half a million dollars in federal funds to help with their COVID-19 response.

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“We don’t provide the test. That’s done by the healthcare community and the healthcare providers,” said Collin County Judge Chris Hill. “We monitor the results, but we don’t control access to those tests. We don’t limit access to those tests. We absolutely are working with the state to try to get more capacity, but the county is not in charge of deciding who gets to have a test and who does not.”

Last week, Judge Hill announced an economic recovery task force made up of industry and business leaders that have been working over the last two weeks to provide guidance on how the county should proceed with re-opening. He said he also participated in a call with other county judges and Governor Greg Abbott to provide feedback to the governor on how to proceed with re-opening businesses shuttered due to coronavirus.

"He solicited our feedback and asked for guidance to him on what we thought we’re able to do, how we were able to open up safely and when we’d be able to open up safely, and how our medical services in each county are looking,” Hill said. "Are we at capacity? Under capacity? Do we have the ability to respond should we see more cases?”

Hill said he should be getting more guidance from the county's economic task force Tuesday on recommendations for re-opening.

Collin County is currently the ninth highest in the state for total coronavirus cases.

At last check, about 52 percent of the county's total hospital beds are occupied. About 25 percent of the total ventilators are in use.”