The Stephens County Courthouse is assisting the vulnerable population in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Individuals who are over the age of 65 or have underlying health conditions such as high blood pressure, compromised immune systems, or cancer will have special accommodations to assist during the pandemic and into the future.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Breckenridge ISD board of trustees approved an item to omit the Spring 2020 semester in grade-point calculations for the graduating classes of 2021, 2022 and 2023.
The approval comes as the board of trustees met to discuss more details for the upcoming graduation ceremony, during a special board meeting Tuesday, May 19.
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Stephens County and Breckenridge will move into Phase II of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Open Texas plan to reopen businesses across the state.
“Businesses that will be able to reopen immediately include child care facilities, massage parlors and youth clubs,” Gov. Abbott said, during a press conference on Monday, May 18. “On Friday, May 22, several other businesses will be able to open at 25% capacity, including bars, bowling alleys, bingo halls and aquariums. On Friday, May 29, restaurants will be able to increase to 50% occupancy.
Stephens County has confirmed its fourth positive case of COVID-19.
"This case was in the same household as the third case," according to Stephens County's Facebook post.
The third case was said to be travel-related and was reported on Tuesday, May 19. The county also reported that quarantine protocols are being followed and the patient is under the care of a local physician.
The case is the third case in two weeks and comes as Phase II of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's Open Texas plan goes into effect.
Stephens County has confirmed the third positive case of COVID-19.
According to Stephens County, "the case is travel-related and the patient is doing better and is expected to fully recover. Quarantine protocols are being followed and the patient is under the care of a local physician."
The case is the second case in two weeks and comes as Phase II of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's Open Texas plan goes into effect.
The Breckenridge American will continue to monitor the situation.
Stephens Memorial Hospital and Breckenridge city officials have confirmed a second case of COVID-19 within the county.
The news comes as Breckenridge City Administration building was abruptly closed after reopening just a few weeks ago.
"We shut the doors until we can get testing results back," Houston Satterwhite said. "We had one of our city employees who spent time with a positive patient and had physical contact. We found out Tuesday, May 12 that an employee of the prison system and a city employee spent time the day before they tested."
PRESS RELEASE
May 5, 2020
The Breckenridge Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) is pleased to announce that it is implementing a COVID-19 Recovery Emergency Loan Program. The new temporary loan program is designed to provide assistance to help Stephens County small businesses recover from the financial impacts of the economic crisis.
Stephens Memorial Hospital District announced that the hospital and nursing home has received significant funding from the government to aid during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The acceptance of the assistance was announced during the Monday, April 27 board meeting as a portion of the funding comes from the Texas Health and Human Services. The state department has provided the hospital with $626,000 to be split between the hospital district and the nursing home within Stephens County.
After a weekend of awaiting test results, Stephens County officials have confirmed that the county has become the first in Texas to have a 100 percent negative rate on COVID-19 testing.
The results come as 96 Stephens County residents signed up and were tested for the COVID-19 virus as the Texas National Guards provided free mass testing on Thursday, April 30.
Citizens became aware of their testing results on Sunday, May 3 with a phone call from the Texas Department of State Health Services
Stephens County has applied and are allowed to begin Phase 2 of the Governors Strike Force to Reopen Texas Report. The report allow counties to strategically reopen businesses around the state.
Phase 2 allows the county to reopen business with 50 percent occupancy in an effort to restart the Texas economy.
The plan is detailed in Governor Greg Abbott’s recently released Strike Force to Reopen Texas Report.
