Kerr County officials urge citizens to continue safety practices as they announce COVID-19 Info Call Center will close

Amid lowered COVID-19 cases locally, the Kerr County COVID-19 Information Call Center is scheduled to close at the end of business hours on Friday, March 5.

According to Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas, “Our call volume has dropped to only a handful of calls each day, and the number of volunteers needed to answer calls is minimal now.”

Thomas went on record thanking all of the volunteers who worked at the call center. “Our volunteers did an outstanding job – not only in providing information about vaccine availability, but also acted as a sounding board for many elderly citizens to talk to and express their fears and frustrations. All of the volunteers believe they’ve done more for the mental health of most people than giving out vaccine information.”

Anyone needing answers to questions regarding the availability or other aspects of the vaccine is asked to call Peterson Health COVID-19 hotline at (830) 896-4200, Option 1, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. The hospital also posts information on their website at: https://www.petersonhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/covid-19_faq_1-6-2021_web.pdf.

As of Thursday, March 4, Kerr County reported 87 active COVID-19 cases, 4,082 recoveries, 2 COVID-19 hospitalizations and 82 official fatalities due to the virus. On Thursday, Peterson Health confirmed that there were 4 new positive COVID-19 cases.

Citizens wanting to register to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available for them locally are invited to call the Peterson Regional Medical Center Pre-Registration Call Center at 1-800-208-3611 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. Individuals may also complete the registration process online: https://www.research.net/r/PetersonHealth.

Peterson Health is currently prioritizing the distribution of vaccines by State of Texas mandate, including: health care workers, residents of long-term facilities, people between 18 and 64 years of age who have had a health condition that increases their risk of severe COVID-19 illness and people 65 years of age or older.

Earlier this week, Governor Abbott signed an executive order, GA-34, which will allow Texas businesses to reopen to 100% of their operations capacity and will also lift the statewide, mandatory mask mandate, effective Wednesday, March 10.

Thomas wants to remind citizens that the governor’s new order does not mean that people should abandon safe practices, and everyone should continue protecting themselves and others.

“Our COVID-19 numbers here in Kerr County have been showing great improvement over the past few weeks as our number of active cases and hospitalizations have been drastically decreasing. I sure would hate to see folks get lax at this point and abandon the safety precautions that helped get us to this point.”