SAN ANGELO, Texas — In the past 10 days in the Concho Valley, there have been 38 COVID-19 related deaths, and the control could soon be taken out of the city's hands.
If you look at the current data, San Angelo has reached the threshold of a 15% hospitalization capacity through a seven-day rolling average, which constitutes the city to follow Executive Order GA-32, which would shut down bars and reduce other business' capacities to 50%.
"I, Brenda Gunter, have never shut down the economy or shut down a business. It is not in my hands to make those decisions. It is not in Dr. Vretis' hands to make those decisions. It is the Governor's decision," Mayor Gunter reminded attendants of Thursday's press conference.
However, Gunter and other city officials believe the current data might be misleading. According to Gunter, there's many different classifications of hospital bed occupancies, and Shannon Medical Center has also been working to gain more beds, which changes the occupancy rate.
"They're doing everything they can to come up with a bed count that continues to put us in the safety zone of not having 15%," Mayor Gunter said.
As it stands, San Angelo is one of the only communities in west Texas that has not had to fall under Executive Order GA-32. Mayor Gunter says whether the current bed count is incorrect or not, however, the goal is to not have to worry about hospital occupancy at all, by decreasing the number of cases in the area.
"We, as citizens, need to do what we can do to secure the future of all of our businesses and the health of each of our citizens. Right now, your mask if your vaccine," she said.
According to Gunter, if the city can prove there are more hospital beds than was reported, the last few day's numbers will count as invalid, and the city will be allowed to start over with a new percent capacity in an attempt to avoid falling under Executive Order GA-32.