Category: Howe News Bulletin

Press Release from the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office

On August 31, 2020, at approximately 1:00 pm, Grayson County Sheriff Deputies responded to the 300 Block of Red Road in Howe, Texas in reference to a shooting/burglary which had taken place. Upon arrival, Deputies were advised of the complainant observing his son’s home being burglarized and property being taken out of the home and placed in a vehicle that did not belong to the complainant’s son. As the alleged suspects were leaving the home in the vehicle, the complainant fired several rounds at the fleeing vehicle and struck one of the alleged suspects in the leg. The alleged suspects drove to Wilson N. Jones Hospital where one of the alleged suspects was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. There has been one arrest made in this case at the time of publication. The case is ongoing.

Since 2015, Cavender Home Theater and the Howe Area Chamber of Commerce have treated Howe to an ice cream social in the downtown area. Due to COVID-19, some changes will be made for tonight’s event which will take place on O’Connell Street, a street over to the north from downtown. It will begin at 6:30 pm next to Summit Gardens.

This year’s ice cream will be served not in a bowl, but in a wrapper. Chris Cavender, owner of Cavender Home Theater usually serves ice cream from containers of Blue Bell, however, tonight he and his staff will be handing the tasty treats through the car window as it is a “drive-thru” ice cream social “distancing.”

There will be many options for those who want to drive through O’Connell Street such as Snickers, Klondike bars, Blue Bell cups, Drumsticks, and much more.

The Howe Area Chamber of Commerce welcomes everyone and invites individuals to join the chamber for $25 annually and businesses to join $75 annually. The chamber supports their members and Cavender Home Theater was a charter member in the reformation of the chamber in 2015.

People who have recovered from the coronavirus should not need a test to get back to work. The Texas Medical Association (TMA) COVID-19 Task Force announced support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendation that individuals should not be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test result or a note from a physician to return to the office or classroom after being sick, unless in specific circumstances.

“We know that time and reduction of symptoms are the most accurate indications that a person is no longer infectious,” said Valerie B. Smith, a Tyler pediatrician, and TMA COVID-19 Task Force member. “People diagnosed with COVID-19 can shed [inactive and noncontagious] viral particles for several weeks after they are no longer infectious and may continue to have a positive test,” because it could reveal those viral particles. “Requiring a test to return to work or school would potentially require a person to stay in isolation while no longer infectious.”

Except in specific circumstances, CDC no longer recommends using COVID-19 testing results to end self-quarantine. That’s because some tests can yield false negatives if taken too soon. Alternately, false positives can occur on tests when individuals with confirmed COVID-19 continue to test positive even after the infectious period has passed, due to the inactive viral particles showing up on a test. Also, during periods of high disease transmission, testing facilities may be experiencing higher than usual volumes, resulting in strained capacity, limited availability, and higher wait times both to get tested and to receive results.

Instead, CDC had adopted a symptom-based strategy to determine when patients diagnosed with COVID-19 can end their self-quarantine. People with mild to moderate COVID-19 remain infectious no longer than 10 days after their symptoms began, according to CDC researchers. People with more severe illness or who are severely immunocompromised remain infectious no longer than 20 days after their symptoms began.

​“The symptom-based strategy allows COVID-19-positive patients to return to work or school after 10 days of isolation as long as they have been without fever for 24 hours and have improvement of their other symptoms,” said Dr. Smith.  “The TMA approach to return to school and work is consistent with the CDC guidance that will allow us to protect our community and allow those infected with COVID-19 to return to their daily lives as soon as possible.”

The few patients who might still need testing to return to work or school include those who are severely immunocompromised and whose infectious disease physician recommends a test, or people seeking to end their isolation or other precautions earlier than would occur under the symptom-based strategy. They would need two consecutive negative test results taken at least 24 hours apart.

TMA is the largest state medical society in the nation, representing more than 53,000 physician and medical student members. It is located in Austin and has 110 component county medical societies around the state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 is to improve the health of all Texans.