COVID-19 cases spiked in Scurry County this week, according to information from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and Scurry County Judge Dan Hicks.
The TDCJ has placed the Price Daniel Unit on precautionary lockdown as a result of active cases there.
According to a Friday update, more than 250 offenders tested positive for COVID-19 this week. That’s in addition to 23 employees, who began showing positive results more than 10 days ago. There have been no recoveries yet recorded at the unit. According to TDCJ, precautionary lockdown is the restriction of movement on a facility. Units with high rates of positive COVID-19 tests are placed on precautionary lockdown.
• Active offender cases — 252
• Active employee cases — 23
• Medical restriction — 652
• Medical isolation — 254
Scurry County officials announced Friday that an additional two individuals had recovered, but that there are now 70 active cases of COVID-19 here.
• Year-to-date positive results — 94
• Active cases — 70
• Deaths — 1
• Recovered — 23
The City of Snyder will follow a July 2 order from Texas governor Greg Abbott mandating masks indoors in public, but according to local officials, enforcement of the order will be left largely up to local business owners.
“We are certainly doing our best to follow the governor’s guidelines, and we want to encourage everybody to wear a mask when they’re inside of a (public) building, an enclosed area,” Snyder City Manager Merle Taylor said. “Social distancing and all that. We’re in support of all that. It’ll be primarily left up to the merchant to decide his level of accountability. A lot of it will be left up to the merchant. Of course, each case will be considered separately.”
According to Scurry County Sheriff Trey Wilson, the Sheriff’s Department won’t be actively searching for those in violation of the mask order.
“The Scurry County Sheriff’s Office will not be actively enforcing the mandatory wear order through citations,” Wilson said in a press release Thursday. “My office will respond to any local business requesting assistance due to an unruly patron creating a disturbance or refusing to leave the premises regarding the order. I am asking the citizens for their voluntary compliance with the order and I would ask that the public respect the businesses that are enforcing the order, as they are only trying to comply with what is in place.”
The Scurry County Courthouse had been accessible through the first floor’s east and west entries to accommodate early voting. As of the end of business Friday, when early voting ended, the only entrance to the courthouse is the west side’s first floor entrance. Masks are required, and a county employee is standing by to check the body temperature and ask health-related questions of those entering the building.
Snyder ISD Chief Academic Officer Dr. Rachael McClain said that the district’s plan for the coming school year isn’t set in stone yet, but it will likely provide both in-class instruction and at-home virtual learning this fall. McClain warned that online classes won’t be an easier option than in-person classes this year.
“We need to make sure our parents and students understand that virtual classes are going to be just as rigorous as our face-to-face ones,” McClain said.
Students in class will be socially distanced and required to wear masks, she added. In addition, group-based learning activities requiring close contact between students will be eliminated, she said.
Abbott’s order, announced July 2 and effective July 3, mandated that people wear protective masks in public in counties with 20 or more active cases of COVID-19. The order also limits outdoor groups to, in most cases, 10 people, and requires social distancing of at least six feet separation between members of such groups.
According to the order, those found in violation of the order will receive a warning for the first infraction, and a $250 fine for each additional infraction. The order specifies that those attending a protest or demonstration involving more than 10 people and not practicing social distancing are not exempt from the mask requirement.
“Wearing a face covering in public is proven to be one of the most effective ways we have to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Abbott said. “We have the ability to keep businesses open and move our economy forward so that Texans can continue to earn a paycheck, but it requires each of us to do our part to protect one another — and that means wearing a face-covering in public spaces.”