ORANGE, Texas — What appeared to be a large a spike in positive cases coming out of Orange County Tuesday night has some Southeast Texans asking questions. According to the county's judge, that data needs an explanation.
The state reported Monday that Orange County had 229 positive cases of the coronavirus. That number would be a new daily record, but according to Orange County Judge John Gothia, "that is not a rise in one single day. That's over a three-day period over the weekend."
Judge Gothia says the health department does not work over the weekend which causes a delay in reporting local numbers to the state. Orange county typically averages about 80 to 100 news cases a day. Judge Gothia wants people to understand Monday's numbers are not a one day increase.
“So realistically it is not 200 in one day; it is 200 over three days,” Gothia said. He also wants to alert people of the trends contract tracers are seeing in Orange County.
“A lot of church activities happening right now and has been. Because churches don't fall under the same guidelines, under the same social distancing guidelines, according to the state. And we see a lot of outbreaks in churches,” Gothia said.
The Judge says Orange County is bracing for another spike
“I’m anticipating the same thing for the schools going back. In two to three weeks, we will see that number rise, and it will be traced back to schools because you are putting a whole lot of people in one place,” Gothia said.
Bridge City ISD is the first district to get back to class in Southeast Texas.
Judge Gothia says he plans to touch base with the superintendent at the end of the week and continue to monitor the numbers closely.
Gothia says he knows how serious the virus is as he has tested positive but has since recovered. He says if you think you are sick, call your doctor right away.
