The first reported COVID-19 death in Texas arrived unexpectedly in a rural hospital with just six beds in its tiny ICU. Eddie Roberts, a 97-year-old funeral home owner and World War II veteran, died March 15 at Matagorda Regional Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital operated by a public health district.
Roberts’ death provided an early and rapid introduction to COVID-19 for the small staff of the Bay City hospital. Since then, a total of 55 Matagorda County residents have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. As of April 21, reported COVID-19 cases had spread to 198 Texas counties.
Because of the low number of licensed primary care physicians (only 19), Matagorda County remains among one of the state’s hardest-hit rural counties.
