Hill Country Regional JR. District Livestock Show 2021 canceled

It was formally announced Monday that the Regional Hill Country District Jr. Livestock Show has been canceled for 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns. The annual Kerrville area event had been scheduled for Jan. 15 to Jan. 23.

Event officials had submitted a COVID-19 prevention plan but it was rejected. According to Hill Country District Junior Livestock Show President Steve Bauer, “Due to the high expectations of increased COVID-19 cases, the state office responsible for approving our mass gathering application did not approve it.” Bauer did add that the 2021 county show is scheduled to go on as planned with additional information forthcoming.

Gillespie County officials said that the Gillespie County Youth Livestock Show 2021 is still scheduled to happen Jan. 6 – 9.

Kerr County announced Monday the closing of all county bars beginning midnight on Wed., Dec. 30. Kerr County businesses also must scale back to 50% occupancy limits on this date per Gov. Abbott’s GA-32 Executive Order.

Bexar County officials announced Monday that all bars must close effective Tuesday and the county’s businesses now operating at 75% capacity will have to cut back to 50% capacity. Bexar County is located in Trauma Service Area P which has seen seven consecutive days where the number of COVID-19 hospitalized patients exceeded 15% of the total hospital capacity. County officials said that threshold was met on Sunday.

The governor’s order also applies to amusement parks, zoos, natural caverns, aquariums, libraries and similar facilities as well as collegiate and professional sporting events. There are no occupancy limits for churches, local government operations and any services listed by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Child care facilities and public and private schools are exempt from the order.

Other counties affected by this order because they are located within the Trauma Service Area P limits include: Atascosa; Bandera; Comal; Dimmit; Edwards; Frio; Gillespie; Gonzales; Guadalupe; Karnes and Kendall

As of Dec. 28, Texas has officially reported 1,490,479 confirmed cases and 192,947 probable cases of COVID-19 in the state. Over the past seven days, the state has seen an average of 10,396 new confirmed cases and 2,030 new probable cases each day.

As of Dec. 28, the state has officially reported an average of 158 deaths each day. DSHS reports test results a day late.

Gov. Abbott has said a positive rate above 10% is a “warning flag.” As of Dec. 28, a total of 10.93% of all tests since the start of the pandemic have come back positive. The state’s seven-day average positive rate, according to specimen collections collected from molecular tests, is 15.79%. The highest daily jump occurred on Dec. 23, when 19,185 new cases were added to the state’s total. The largest increase in deaths in a single day occurred on Aug. 12, when 324 new deaths were reported.

DSHS reports 11,351 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized across the state, which equates to 3.79% of current active cases.

As for COVID-19 vaccines, Texas is getting nearly 380,000 more doses during the third week of vaccine distribution from the CDC, according to DSHS. More than 175,000 of the vaccines produced by Pfizer and nearly 82,000 vaccines produced by Moderna will go straight to providers around the state. An additional 121,875 Pfizer vaccines will go to the federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, which began Monday in Texas.

Dec. 29 is officially National Hero Day, a day to honor the people we all look up to and who continually inspire us to be the best we can possibly be. The word “hero” usually encompasses qualities such as kindness and strength demonstrated by people who always put others before themselves. Thank you to all of our frontline workers!