After more than a year of battling the COVID-19 pandemic, Austin County Judge Tim Lapham said that area businesses are starting to rebound and business is back to usual at the county courthouse.

“Most all of the businesses are (back to usual) as well. I actually just posted on Facebook that (Austin County) is at zero active cases,” Lapham said. “It is an estimated number.”

Lapham’s weekly updates have shown a dwindling number of active cases within the county although he emphasizes the Department of Health Services offers that statistic as an estimated figure. Since the pandemic began, there has been a total of 1,841 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county.

“That is about five percent of our local population. We figure there are about 30,000 (Austin County residents),” Lapham said.

Lapham has not had a COVID-19-related fatality to report since his May 24 update.

“We have been staying with our 37 related fatalities for quite a while,” Lapham said.

Out of the neighboring counties, only Colorado (1,436) and Fayette (1,671) Counties have reported fewer total cases while Washington (3,498), Waller (3,499) and Wharton (3,775) all trailed Fort Bend (59,774) as of June 28. Harris County has remained the state’s leader and started the week with 403,149 total cases.

Amidst the cases that have been reported, Sealy EDC Director Kimbra Hill said although there were some businesses that were forced to close their doors, other businesses opened up and another group is nearing completion as well.

“Despite the hardships caused by the pandemic, Sealy has more than 20 new small businesses and popup shops,” Hill said. “We did lose approximately 14 small businesses, but the growth trend continues to rise, with four more new businesses in the process of opening in the downtown district.”

She said although some businesses showed more success than others, the community is in a position to continue helping small-business owners.

“Our large stores and home improvement suppliers fared the best, even showing increased sales. Sealy’s small businesses are still in the recovery phase but showing optimistic signs of recovery,” Hill said. “The businesses that survived COVID-19 will depend on our support now more than ever. Sales tax revenue from small businesses is showing steady improvement during March and April as they strive to reach and exceed pre-pandemic success.”

On the other side of the coin, during the height of the pandemic, many were forced to turn to local charities in order to get through the challenges of making ends meet.

The Sealy Christian Food Pantry has reported numbers on their website of residents frequenting the pantry have tripled in the last year due to COVID-19.

“These numbers are staggering, as the hungry people in our area has tripled during the pandemic. Job loss and financial strains have forced people that typically would not frequent a food pantry to rely on us to supplement their food needs,” LifeBridge Community Church Pastor Scott Heitshusen said.

On the educational front, while some schools are looking to bring back students in-person full-time to the classroom this coming year, there are still other school districts that are keeping with the virtual learning to begin the upcoming school year.

At the most recent meeting of the Sealy ISD Board of Trustees, Superintendent Bryan Hallmark said in his COVID-19 update that the district will not offer virtual learning options for the 2021-2022 school year. He also said although the district will look to leave its mask mandate in the last school year, it will continue to track cases but will likely not have to send students or staff home to quarantine.

According to the Sealy ISD website, enrollment deadlines are fast approaching.

“Online enrollment and document submission for new to Sealy ISD students grades PK-12 for 2021-22 is open now through July 23,” it says. “Returning students and new student online enrollment and registration will reopen on July 27. All campus offices will once again be open for in-person registration appointments beginning July 27.”