One Year Of Coronavirus In Lubbock

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One year ago today, the City of Lubbock and it's health professionals announced that the coronavirus pandemic had officially reached Lubbock. Citizens in Lubbock had already seen sports cancelled and even some businesses send people home. Texas Tech had extended Spring Break and there was some hope that maybe it would take longer than it did before the pandemic arrived in Lubbock. We had all seen life beginning to change, but on March 17th the announcement really brought it home. Here is the press release from that announcement. At the time, Lubbock thought there were two cases, one of those cases happened to be a resident of Hockley County.

The City of Lubbock has confirmed its first two cases of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Both are traveler transmission cases, but not related to one another. The Department of Public Health is working to identify recent contacts of the patients as well. This step identifies potential exposure risks. The City of Lubbock Health Department and other response agencies are prepared and have employed standard response plans designed to address and resolve public health issues. The Department will continue monitoring individuals as indicated by the CDC. The Department’s disease surveillance team will continue working diligently to ensure the public remains at a low risk of contracting COVID-19.

The City of Lubbock Health Department and our health care partners will continue to monitor COVID-19 in the Lubbock area to prepare for the possibility of more local cases. Please continue to follow proper hygiene recommendations and social distancing practices.

A news conference with Director of Public Health Katherine Wells and Public Health Authority Dr. Ron Cook will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday evening, March 17, 2020, at the LFR Auditorium located at 1515 E. Ursuline.

For more information, call the City of Lubbock Health Department at 806.775.2933, or go to the website: www.mylubbock.us/COVID19.

 

As of Tuesday, March 16 of 2021 in Lubbock County there have been 48,399 positive cases of coronavirus. On March 17 of 2020 there was just one. In the last year, 720 people in Lubbock have died from COVID-19 or from COVID-19 complications.

Before the announcement last year of the first positive case in Lubbock, which was on a Tuesday. Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope had already declared a public health emergency in Lubbock and he had proposed that gatherings of more than 200 people be cancelled. Those actions taken by the Mayor began on Monday, March 16 of 2020.

It would still be about two weeks before the first stay at home orders were issued by Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope.

Over the course of the next few weeks we will take a look back at how life has changed in Lubbock and analyze the decisions made here at home and beyond.