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One day after reporting one of its smallest number of positive coronavirus cases, Peterson Health said 23 people tested positive for the virus on Thursday, but with a positivity rate back at 34%, where it’s been for most of the last six weeks. While Wednesday proved to be a one-day dip, the number of people hospitalized at Peterson Regional Medical Center ticked upward for a third consecutive day with 30 people admitted with COVID-19, placing the hospital back in a place where 34% of the patients there were being treated for the virus.  All of this comes on a day when President Joe Biden warned that another 100,000 people across the country could die in the coming weeks from the virus. In Kerr County, an estimated 100 people have died from the virus, while more than 3,000 have now been infected.   Peterson Regional Medical Center has treated a minimum of 129 people and those with COVID-19 have spent an estimated 1,343 days hospitalized since late June. Want more exclusive reporting? Vi

 

The Kerrville City Council unanimously approved a resolution that notes its opposition to a rock and concrete operation that would be sited near three of the city's most important manufacturing operations. The proposed rock crushing would be located just south of Texas 27 and Al Mooney Road near the Kerrville-Kerr County Airport. It's also outside of the city limits and the only action the city can take is voicing its opposition to the plan.  What the resolution specified is that the city wants the plan to be more thoroughly reviewed.   Kerrville City Manager Mark McDaniel told the City Council that the city isn't exactly sure what impact the project would have on the air quality in the area, where manufacturers James Avery Artisan Jewelry, Fox Tank Company and the future site of Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing.  "We’ve got an area out there that’s very important to us," Kerrville Mayor Bill Blackburn said. "It creates some problems, especially for manufactur

Peterson Health said two people died Monday at Peterson Regional Medical Center from coronavirus, while Texas Health and Human Services confirmed a sixth person died last month at the Villagio of Kerrville — an assisted living center.  The death toll from coronavirus in Kerr County is now at 83 people, including 40 in the month of December. In the days after Christmas, there were 10 deaths of Kerr County residents. The death at the Villagio was on Dec. 29.  The only bit of good news when it came to the virus was that Peterson Regional Medical Center had 23 people hospitalized — the lowest count since Dec. 18.  On Tuesday, Peterson Health reported there were just 22 people positive for the virus — the lowest daily number since Dec. 30. In the first 12 days of January, 339 people have tested positive for the virus at Peterson Health. Tuesday's positivity rate was 16.9% — the lowest since Dec. 14.  At the Kerrville State Hospital, where three patients have died, there were 30 patients

Three more people who live in Kerr County are dead from the coronavirus, including another nursing home patient and a patient at the Kerrville State Hospital.  One of the deaths was reported by the Department of State Health Services on Sunday but was from Dec. 15. The death at River Hills Health and Rehabilitation, a nursing home, happened on Dec. 28. The coronavirus death toll in December is now estimated at 39 people, while the overall death toll is now at 79. There have been three deaths in 2021.  Since late September, 18 people have died in Kerrville nursing homes. Kerrville State Hospital had a patient die either Thursday or Friday of last week — the third death of a patient there.  On Monday, Peterson Health reported that there were 60 new COVID-19 cases from the weekend, while 30 people were hospitalized at Peterson Regional Medical Center. DSHS said that more than 2,700 people have tested positive for the virus, but that data is often delayed. The number of active cases in Ker

The Texas Department of State Health Services said that at least two more Kerr County residents have died from coronavirus, while Peterson Health reported hospitalized with the virus continues to stretch the capacity of Peterson Regional Medical Center. The deaths reported by the state are often from those residents who died in hospitals outside of Kerrville County — namely in Bexar County. One death happened Tuesday, while another appears to have happened on Dec. 19. The state also appears to have adjusted some dates of death, including confirming that at least four people died on Dec. 30.  With these two deaths, Kerr County has now had an estimated 76 residents die from COVID-19 during the pandemic. In December, an estimated 37 people died from the virus in Kerr County, but the accounting isn't finished. Reporting from the Texas Health and Human Services, which is counted separately of DSHS, and focuses on nursing and assisted living centers is delayed by two weeks.  On Friday, P

A coronavirus test that is used across Texas, including at mass testing events held in Kerr County, has one big problem — it has a risk of producing false negatives. The Food and Drug Administration said on Jan. 4 that the false negatives create a health care issue for those who could be positive for COVID-19. "Lack of monitoring of infected individuals and their household or other close contacts for symptoms resulting in an increased risk of spread of COVID-19 within the community, or other unintended adverse events," the FDA wrote. The agency said that health care providers should Consider retesting their patients using a different test if you suspect an inaccurate result was given recently by the Curative SARS-Cov-2 test. The FDA also said if testing was performed more than two weeks ago, and there is no reason to suspect a current SARS-CoV-2 infection, it is not necessary to retest. Curative was selected to replace the screening that was being performed by the Texas M

A Peterson Health respiratory therapist wears a fully contained breathing apparatus in order to treat patients with COVID-19 at the Kerrville hospital.  As Kerr County leaders, including those from Peterson Health, were hosting a community meeting about the coronavirus spread in the community, the state of Texas continued its grim reporting of COVID-19's impact by announcing two additional deaths of county residents.  The community meeting, which was hosted by the city of Kerrville, featured Peterson Health President and CEO Cory Edmondson making a plea to the community to wear masks and take precautions against contracting the virus, which has now stretched Peterson Regional Medical Center's capacity to care for those not infected with COVID-19.  Edmondson conceded that last month PRMC had a day when it had 36 patients admitted for COVID-19 — 40.9% of its capacity. That number had previously been unreported. Across the Texas Department of State Health Service's San Antonio

Peterson Regional Medical Center said Thursday it had a record number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 — nearing 40% of the hospital's total capacity.  The situation at Kerrville's lone hospital mirrored what was going on across the state and country as thousands of people are sickened by COVID-19. PRMC said it had 34 patients hospitalized — 38% of the hospital's capacity. On Thursday, Peterson said 38 people had tested positive but it was the fourth consecutive day where the hospital system reported positivity rates above 30%. In three days this week, Peterson has screened 404 people for COVID-19 with 132 testing positive for the virus — 32.6%.  At the Kerrville State Hospital, the number of patients sickened by the virus rose to 25, while staff members infected rose to 23. 

  Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, who represents Kerr County, condemned protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol and offered a rebuke of President Donald Trump for inciting the violent behavior that unfolded on Wednesday.   During a speech Wednesday night after the House of Representatives, Roy said there was no defense of the attack against the U.S. Capitol, but his strongest words — on which he drew applause — were saved for Trump.   “And the president should have never spun up certain Americans into believing something that cannot be,” said Roy, who represents the 21st Congressional District and who is based in Austin. “I applaud House leadership of both parties for bringing us back to do our job, which is to count the electors and no more.” While railing against positions held by Democrats, Roy saved equal passion for his Republican colleagues, who had fomented objections against certifying the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden, who won the popular vote and Electoral College. “Now

A Kerrville couple was in the middle of Wednesday’s pro-President Trump protests at the U.S. Capitol Building, and they are the first to admit they were proud to be there.   Leigh and David Gibson flew to Washington D.C. on Tuesday to participate in rallies to support President Trump, who is still fighting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Of course, Wednesday was the day that Congress was going to certify the Electoral College but that was delayed when hundreds of people stormed the U.S. Capitol.   There has been plenty of blame placed on Trump for what happened at the Capitol, but the Gibsons see it differently.   “We are not incited by (Trump),” Leigh Gibson said. “We have done our own homework. We are not stupid. In fact, I left his speech early because he’s not telling us anything new. So, we headed out. We marched from the Washington Monument to the Capitol, and that’s when my mother called me and said they’ve breached the Capitol. We just kept marching.” It was durin

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported Wednesday afternoon at least one death of a Kerr County person from COVID-19, and the regional situation when it comes to hospitalizations continued to intensify as the availability of intensive care unit beds dwindled.  The DSHS said that a person from Kerr County died on New Year's Eve, but it also noted a death on Dec. 30. It's not clear if that's the fourth death on Dec. 30 or confirming a death reported by Peterson Regional Medical Center. At least 32 people have died in Kerr County in the month of December and the final death toll may be much higher. An estimated 73 people have now died from COVID-19 in Kerr County since May 31. At Peterson Regional Medical Center there were 32 people hospitalized with COVID-19 and across the San Antonio region, which includes Kerr County, there were just 52 intensive care unit beds available in a region that has 2.9 million people. Across the state, there were more than 13,600 pe

As Kerr County awaits the arrival of vaccines to curb the coronavirus pandemic, the virus continues to surge in the county and Texas. On Wednesday, Peterson Health reported 43 new cases but more concerning is that over the last two days 32% of those seeking coronavirus screening are testing positive for COVID-19.  Peterson Regional Medical Center said it has a record 32 people hospitalized with COVID-19 — 36% of the hospital's capacity. Reporting from the Texas Health and Human Services noted that more patients at the Kerrville State Hospital were infected, and delayed data about nursing homes and assisted living centers showed a bit of stability when it comes to the virus.  Here was the breakdown:  At River Hills Rehabilitation and Health, as of Dec. 23, had 26 residents with the virus and nine employees. The Bandera Highway facility had 75 people — both staff and residents — infected with the virus. There were two deaths.  At the Kerrville State Hospital, as of Tuesday, 24 patien

Reports from the Texas Department of State Health Services and Health and Human Services showed that Kerr County had four additional COVID-19 deaths in December, including two more at Villagio of Kerrville — an assisted living center that has been hit hard by the virus.  All of this comes as Peterson Health reported 51 new cases on Tuesday— one of the biggest one-day totals since the pandemic began — and nearly 30,000 people tested positive for the virus across the state. Peterson Regional Medical Center had 29 people admitted to the hospital on Tuesday.  The deaths at Villagio bring the assisted living home's toll to five, but that report is only through Dec. 22. At that point, 17 residents had tested positive for the virus. The same report showed that 52 people had tested positive at Kerrville's River Hills Nursing and Health, where two people died. More than 250 people have tested positive for the virus among the staff and patients at nursing homes.  An estimated 31 people d

Peterson Health reported that 100 people had tested positive for the coronavirus over the extended New Year's holiday weekend, and at least one person had lost their life due to the virus.  The Kerr County death toll is now estimated to have reached 67 people since May — more than one-third of those deaths happened in December. This latest death is the 14th at Peterson since Sept. 29. The lengthy delays in reporting from Texas Health and Human Services do not give a clear real-time picture of what is happening at Kerrville's nursing and assisted living centers, which have been hit hard by the virus.  The last update by Health and Human Services showed significant outbreaks at Villagio of Kerrville — an assisted living center — and the River Hills Nursing and Health.  More concerning, however, is that Peterson Health reported a 35% infection rate of those who were screened for COVID-19 — the highest sample of positivity during the recent surge of the virus in Kerr County. In the

The Texas Department of State Health Services said there were two additional Kerr County to die from coronavirus this week in its update on Friday.  The two deaths happened on Dec. 28 and Dec. 30. The second death could be a duplicate count from Peterson Health, which reported one death on that day, but officials were unavailable to clarify the accounting. Over the last few months, Kerr County residents who have died in San Antonio-area hospitals have been counted long before those from Peterson Health.  With the two deaths, the estimated number of people from Kerr County who have died from COVID-19 is 66 in 2020, including 26 in December.  The hospitalization situation continued to worsen across the state and in the DSHS San Antonio region, which includes Kerrville, 85% of hospital beds were filled. More than 24% of those patients were infected with COVID-19. Across Texas, more than 12,400 people were hospitalized with the virus.  Texas officials said there were just 580 intensive car

Larry Leitha, center, is sworn-in as the new Kerr County Sheriff by 198th District Court Judge Rex Emmerson. Leitha is flanked by his children, Larry and Bobbi.  For the first time in 20 years, Kerr County has a new Sheriff.  On Friday morning, the first day of the new year, Larry Leitha assumed control of the Kerr County Sheriff's Office as the county's new sheriff.  During a swearing-in ceremony at the Happy State Bank Expo Center, Leitha, along with his deputies, was sworn in to serve the county. It was one of several swearing-in ceremonies for Kerr County elected officials, including two commissioners, held on Friday morning.  For Leitha, the moment was the culmination of a two-year, if not a career, goal of succeeding retiring Kerr County Sheriff W.R. "Rusty" Hierholzer. Since securing the office through a hard-fought primary, a run-off and the Nov. 3 general election, Leitha has been meeting with Hierholzer regularly and has been a regular at the Kerr County Com