BRYAN, Texas — As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year, the Brazos County Health District will end processing cases at the local level and instead report COVID-19 cases from the Department of State Health Services. The change will begin Monday, Jan. 24.
Additionally, the dashboard that has been provided since the beginning of the pandemic through social media and other digital platforms will cease operations on Monday.
The DSHS reports directly from the National Electronic Surveillance System. The transition of reporting COVID cases from the NEDSS will provide the public with a real-time report in Brazos County.
Brazo County Health District held a virtual press conference Friday discussing the department's decision to end the daily updated dashboard.
Dr. Seth Sullivan, Brazos County Health Authority, said that with as the pandemic evolves, a rise in cases and numbers that did not show the entire picture, the dashboard usage had to come to an end.
"What we want at the Health District is to provide the public with the accurate- as accurate information we can provide," Dr. Sullivan said. "We just cannot go through 7,00 active cases right now."
Sullivan also pressed on personal responsibility when dealing with the pandemic as it enters the third year.
"The biggest issue that we're having is trying to keep a workforce healthy so that we can maintain society," Dr. Sullivan added. "We also have vaccines available now. So there is this personal responsibility that comes into play."
He added that distrust as a result of changes in CDC and Health District policy is due to an evolving pandemic.
"As we learn, we should change our policies and recommendations," Dr. Sullivan said. "As science becomes available, we have to remember that [COVID-19] is not clear."