During its May 6 meeting, the Hays County Commissioners Court recognized May 5-9 as Air Quality Awareness Week, and the Hays County Health Department presented the Measles Exposure After Action report.
According to the proclamation, poor air quality affects about half of all residents in Central Texas, including children, older adults and people with lung and heart diseases.
Before the proclamation was passed, Hays County Health Department Director Matthew Gonzales thanked Commissioner Michelle Cohen and Walt Smith for serving on the air quality committee and acquiring two air quality sensors for Hays County.
Gonzales said one air sensor is in Dripping Springs and one is at the health department in San Marcos.
According to Gonzales, the air quality index (AQI) range of zero to 50 indicates the air quality is good and air pollution poses little risk. The weekly average air quality sensor reading for San Marcos is 49 AQI, while Dripping Springs is at 43 AQI.
“With the traffic that piles up on I-35, I imagine that the [AQI] numbers are really high because of that,” Cohen said. “I just think that it is all of our responsibility to try and do what we can to make sure that we have cleaner air for our environment.”
Gonzales gave a presentation about the measles exposure that occurred in February and continued through March.
According to Gonzales, the night of Feb. 21, when the Hays County Health Department was first notified about a potential measles exposure, they began preparing press releases and activating the emergency operations center. The following morning, the Health Department was notified that it was a positive case of measles.
“Unfortunately, with communication, we had a little bit of a breakdown. In the very beginning, there was an external leak from our partner agency at Texas State University,” Gonzales said. “It was revealed about a measles situation before the department was able to release more information.”
Gonzales said there was also an internal leak that caused the department to put out a statement faster than normal.
“Unfortunately, [Hays County] Judge Ruben [Becerra] had released information to the public, and so that was a leak of information and required [the department] to respond more hastily,” Gonzales said.
According to Gonzales, the Health Department was working with Becerra for his statement to avoid any personal information leaks. There were changes to what was released through the judge’s office and the health department.
Gonzales stated that people in Gaines County were able to piece together the person’s identity due to the information that was released.
“I think one of the most dangerous things that we can do is release both inaccurate or inadequate information to the general public, especially when there’s a public health crisis,” Smith said.
Becerra said Gonzales created his message, as he does not create any of his own messages, and that he asked when the message should and will come out. He offered to let anyone review his paper trail.
“I would ask that you first realize that the leak was mischaracterized,” Becerra said. “When you provide it and you also provide what time to release it, that is not a leak.”
However, Gonzales said there was a timeline set, and it was not followed properly, making it hard for staff to respond effectively.
“[Becerra] asked for our current press release, so I sent him a screenshot of what we have and said we are working on it, and he said ‘I understand, and we’ll wait for it,’” Gonzales said. “Then, about 20 minutes later, I received communication from one of our staff informing me that there was something on the judge’s Facebook page. So that press release has been issued ahead of time.”
Smith disagreed with Becerra’s statement about Becerra having mindful timing for information releases.
Gonzales said the health department is crafting better internal policies and external policies, and protocols with its partners to avoid any future issues.
The Hays County Commissioners Court 9 a.m. on select Tuesdays each month. For more information, visit its website.
