Brownwood News – The Brownwood City Council met Tuesday morning at City Hall.  They spent almost an hour receiving an update on the status of COVID-19 in Brown County where two positive cases of the virus were confirmed last week.

The Council heard an update on local COVID-19 testing from Cliff Karnes, Public Health Preparedness Coordinator, for the Brownwood/Brown County Health Department.  “Right now we have 24 tests that have gone through public health.  We’ve had four (4) tests that have been reported to have gone through private labs.  Out of the 24 through public health, 11 are pending results, 2 were positive and 11 were negative.  Of the ones reported through a private lab, we have three (3) pending and one (1) negative,” Karnes told the Council via telephone conference from the health department.

Lisa Dick, Administrator for the Brownwood/Brown County Health Department, answered Council questions via telephone.  “I would just encourage the continuation of social distancing and remembering to limit gatherings to less than 10.  I think this is going to make the difference for our community,” Dick said.

The Council then voted unanimously to extend the local disaster declaration regarding the COVID-19 virus.  It was last Wednesday, March 18, 2020 that the Brownwood/Brown County Health Department confirmed a case of COVID-19 in Brown County.  The confirmed case was a result of international travel.  A second positive case was confirmed last Friday in Brown County.

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Most of the city employees who normally attend Council meetings in person attended via telephone conference call instead to follow social distancing protocol.  Members of the community were also invited to listen in to the Council meeting via phone, tablet, computer or smartphone.