Fayette County Man Tests Positive for Coronavirus

Note: Fayette County Emergency Management initially reported the patient as a man between 40 and 50 years old. That information was incorrect. Fayette County Emergency Management Chief Craig Moreau reported that the patient is actually in his 60s. The story has been corrected.

Fayette County has its first official case of coronavirus. 

Fayette County Emergency Management Chief Craig Moreau confirmed Friday that one Fayette County resident has tested positive for the virus.

Moreau said the person is a man in his 60s. Moreau would not disclose where he lives and status of family members, citing patient privacy concerns. 

Moreau said the man is under quarantine recovering at home and is “not extremely sick at this point.” 

“We’ve been expecting this for a while,” Moreau said. “Frankly, I’m kind of surprised we haven’t seen a case until now. It’s going to happen. It’s going to spread. We’re likely to have more cases.”

Moreau said the man was is believed to have been infected through contact with another person outisde the county. Texas Department of State Health Services has questioned the man about places he has visited, Moreau said. So far, it doesn't appear that the man had many contacts with people in Fayette County. Moreau said state officials are looking into the man's travel outside of the county.

Moreau said the case does not change Fayette County’s response to the coronavirus crisis. On Thursday, before learning about the positive case, Fayette County Commissioners approved an order banning gatherings of more than 10 people. The same day, Governor Greg Abbott ordered a similar ban statewide, along with restrictions on eating and drinking in restaurants and bars.

“We have been planning as though this already happened for a while,” Moreau said. “It doesn’t change our response at this point.”

Referring to the measures put in place Thursday by the County and State, Moreau said, “That’s about as strict as you can get without saying shelter in place.”

Moreau said he does not expect the County or State to issue a shelter-in-place order like the one California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered Thursday for his state.

“I would be very surprised,” Moreau said. “Although I’m surprised we’ve gotten to this point. This is an unpredictable event. But I would not anticipate (a shelter-in-place order) here.”