COVID 19 cases, deaths, concerns rise in Central Texas, around the state
(KWTX) - Texas reported a near-record number of new cases of COVID-19 Friday and almost 175 more deaths while the Central Texas case count rose by 400 to more than 28,800 and the virus claimed at least four more lives in the region amid a post-Halloween surge that local officials fear may only intensify as the holidays approach.
The Waco-McLennan County Health District issued a public health alert Friday warning against Thanksgiving gatherings of any size outside the home and advising residents not to travel over the holiday.
“The safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving this year is to limit your celebration to the people in your immediate household,” health officials said.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 11,142 additional cases of the virus Friday, 10,542 of them new, increasing the official statewide total to 1,004,083.
Johns Hopkins University Data showed the statewide total rose to more than 1 million earlier this week, making Texas the first in the state to reach the dubious milestone.
Of the total, 137,398 cases were active Friday, almost double the number reported just more than a month ago.
At least 850,648 patients have recovered.
The state reported 173 additional deaths Friday, increasing the statewide death toll to 19,320.
State data showed additional deaths Friday in Bell, Falls and Freestone counties.
The Central Texas death toll may now be as high as 445, but according to state data Friday at least 433 area residents diagnosed with the virus have now died including 107 Bell County residents, three more than the local count of 104; 14 Bosque County residents; 14 Coryell County residents, one more than the local count of 13; 11 Falls County residents; seven Freestone County residents; seven Hamilton County residents; 16 Hill County residents; nine Lampasas County residents; 13 Leon County residents; 16 Limestone County residents; 160 McLennan County residents, eight fewer than the local count of 168; nine Milam County residents; three Mills County residents; 35 Navarro County residents, five fewer than the local count of 40; six Robertson County residents, two more than the local count of four, and five San Saba County residents.
At least 7,083 patients were hospitalized statewide Friday, a number that has been rising steadily for several weeks, and in the two Trauma Service Areas that include most of Central Texas, more than 130 were hospitalized.F
More than 9.15 million tests have been administered statewide.
The statewide Lab Test Report Date clinical positivity rate has been rising steadily for the past month.
On Friday it was 12.76% Friday, up slightly from 12.73% on Thursday.
Bamlanivimab, the Eli Lilly & Company’s monoclonal antibody COVID-19 therapy that mimics the human immune system’s ability to fight off viruses, could be distributed as early next week to acute care hospitals in Central Texas and around the state, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday.
“This initial allotment of bamlanivimab will help health care professionals effectively treat cases of COVID-19 within their communities and aid in reducing hospitalizations,” Abbott said.
BELL COUNTY
The Bell County Public Health District reported 83 additional cases Friday, raising the county’s total to 7,212.
Of that number, 716 cases were active Friday and 6,496 patients have recovered.
The county is reporting 104 deaths from the virus.
State data, which includes Fort Hood personnel, showed 7,235 active cases, an increase of 147, and two additional deaths for a total of 107.
“The increase in cases has been steady and there is certainly concern about a possible additional spike after Thanksgiving,” health district director Dr. Amanda Robison-Chadwell said Friday.
“I do hope that our residents take precautions to reduce the chance of COVID-19 transmission during the holiday.”
Salado High School’s first-round playoff game against Rusk Friday night in College Station has been canceled after players on the Rusk team tested positive for COVID-19, forcing teammates with close contact to quarantine. Salado automatically advances to the next area round of playoffs next week against Bellville High School. The time and location will be announced soon, officials said.
The Bartlett ISD temporarily suspended on-campus instruction Friday “due to a possible COVID-19 exposure and out of an abundance of caution,” Superintendent Teddy Clevenger said in a message to parents. “Doing this will allow our staff to deep clean our school and to take every safety step necessary to keep students, staff and the community safe,” he said.
Friday’s Temple-Belton varsity football game was canceled Tuesday after the 12-6A District Executive Committee voted to allow each team to reschedule one game in response to the virus in the order the game was originally canceled. Belton first canceled its game against Harker Heights and as a result of the vote that’s the only game Belton can reschedule.
The Vehicle Registration Office in Belton was closed Thursday after two employees tested positive for the virus. Public appointments through the end of the week were canceled. Offices in Temple and Killeen and on Fort Hood remain open.
The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor dashboard Friday showed 13 active cases of the virus and a total of 165 since Aug. 1.
Texas A&M University-Central Texas Friday showed one active student case and a total of 10 involving students and four involving staff since March.
The Killeen ISD’s online dashboard Friday showed a total of 155 cases involving students and 169 involving staff since March 16 and 27 involving students and 17 involving staff in the past seven days. The district Friday reported one case involving an employee at Alice Douse Elementary; two cases involving employees at Fowler Elementary; one case involving an employee at Haynes Elementary; one case involving a student at Mountain View Elementary, one involving an employee at Oveta Culp Hobby Elementary; one involving an employee at Pershing Park Elementary; one case involving a student at Richard E. Cavazos Elementary; one involving a student and one an employee at Skipcha Elementary; two involving employees at Trimmier Elementary; one involving a student at Venable Village Elementary; one involving a student at West Ward Elementary; one case involving a student at Charles Patterson Middle School; one involving a student at Liberty Hill Middle School; one case involving a student at Live Oak Ridge Middle School; one case involving a student at Manor Middle School; one involving a student and one involving an employee at Nolan Middle School; one involving a student at Smith Middle School; one involving a student at Union Grove Middle School; four cases involving students and one involving an employee at Ellison High School; four involving students at Harker Heights High School; two involving students at Killeen High School; one involving an employee at the KISD Career Center; five involving students and three involving employees at Shoemaker High School, and two involving employees at non-campus facilities.
The Temple ISD’s online dashboard Friday showed five cases at Temple High School; one at Bonham Middle School; one at Lamar Middle School; one in administration; one in transportation, and two at an auxiliary facility.
The Belton ISD’s online dashboard Friday showed one case at Lakewood Elementary; three cases at Pirtrle Elementary; one case at Tarver Elementary; five cases at Belton High School; two at Belton New Tech High School; three at Lake Belton High School, and one at a non-campus facility.
All Belton ISD students may now receive free breakfasts and lunches for the remainder of the school year because of waiver extensions from the USDA. Remote students may pick up grab-and-go meals at Southwest Elementary at 611 South Saunders. St. in Belton; Pirtle Elementary at 714 South Pea Ridge Rd. in Temple; Miller Heights Elementary at 1110 Fairway Dr. in Belton, and North Belton Middle School at 7907 Prairie View Rd. in Temple. Breakfast distribution is from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and lunch distribution is 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. when school is in session. The district is encouraging families to submit a Free and Reduced Price School Meal Application.
Approved applicants receive additional benefits outside of meal service.
The health district has created a guide for safe holiday practices that’s available online.
TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOL COVID-19 DATA
MCLENNAN COUNTY
The Waco-McLennan County Health District reported 178 additional cases of the virus Friday, 85 from ongoing surge testing, increasing the county’s total to 11,956.
Of the total, 1,138 cases were active Friday, 66 patients were hospitalized, 12 of them on ventilators, and 10,650 patients have recovered.
Forty nine of the 66 hospitalized patients are McLennan County residents.
The new cases involve five residents who range in age from 1 to 10; 46 who range in age from 18 to 25; 15 who range in age from 26 to 29; 22 in their 30s; 24 in their 40s; 25 in their 50s; 12 in their 60s; five in their 70s, and three who are 80 or older.
The county’s death toll stands at 168.
Free COVID-19 test sites are in operation in the Waco area after the federal government provided 40,000 test kits to McLennan County as part of the effort to stem the spread of the virus. Additional details are available online.
The health district has contracted with Aardvark Mobile Health to provide mobile COVID-19 tests, using a small truck that can accommodate two testing lines with the capacity to administer as many as 500 tests daily. Additional details are available online.
Local health officials are urging residents to be cautious as Thanksgiving approaches, limiting celebrations to immediate household members, avoiding gatherings of any size outside the home and considering alternatives to traditional celebrations.
“Have a virtual Thanksgiving celebration with friends and family that don’t live with you,” officials said in a press release Friday.
Health officials are advising against travel.
“The virus is spreading throughout the country. The more time you spend away from your home, the more your risk for catching or spreading the virus increases.”
For those experiencing disabling feelings of loss, change and sadness, short-term counseling is available through the Texans Recovering Together Crisis Counseling Program. A counselor can be requested using an online form or by calling 1-866-576-1101.
Waco’s Harmony School of Innovation and Harmony Science Academy temporarily suspended in-person instruction after a staff member tested positive. Students are expected to return to the campuses on Monday.
Baylor University’s online dashboard showed 154 active cases Friday. Of the total, 138 involve students, six involve faculty members, five involve staff members and five involve contractors. Over the past seven days, 97 cases have been confirmed for a positivity rate of 4.8%. Since Aug 1, 1,356 cases have been confirmed. The university won’t have an in-person December commencement ceremony, but will honor December graduates on the videoboard at McLane Stadium on Dec. 19.
The McLennan Community College dashboard showed 16 active cases Friday, 11 involving students, and a total of 156 in the past three weeks, 135 involving students and 21 involving employees.
The Waco ISD dashboard Friday showed a cumulative total of 85 students, 92 staff members and eight classified as “other” have tested positive for the virus since Sept. 28. The district reported one active case at Alta Vista Elementary; two cases at Bell’s Hill Elementary; three at Brook Avenue Elementary; two at Dean Highland Elementary; two at J.H. Hines Elementary; two at Mountainview Elementary; one at South Waco Elementary; two at Cesar Chavez Middle School; two at G.W. Carver Middle School; one at the Greater Waco Advanced Healthcare Academy; two at the Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy; one at Indian Spring Middle School; one at Tennyson Middle School; five at University High School, and seven at Waco High School.
Both Waco High and University High School have shifted to remote instruction through the end of the week because of the virus. Officials expect students to return to campus on Monday. Fifth through 12th grade students at Waco’s Rapoport Academy also shifted temporarily to remote instruction. Students will return to campus on Nov. 30 after the Thanksgiving holiday. Both of Rapoport’s elementary campuses are continuing normal operations. On-campus instruction has also been temporarily suspended at G.W. Carver Middle School until Nov. 30 and at Lake Air Montessori Magnet School until next Wednesday.
The Midway ISD’s online dashboard Friday showed 38 active cases at Midway High School, 34 of them involving students. The district also reported one active case involving an employee at Hewitt Elementary; four active cases, three involving students, at South Bosque Elementary; one involving an employee at Speegleville Elementary; two involving students at Spring Valley Elementary; one involving a student and one involving an employee at Woodway Elementary; one involving a student and one involving an employee at River Valley Elementary; one involving a student at Woodgate Elementary, and four involving students and four involving employees at Woodway Middle School. The district has no immediate plan to close any schools, however. The district canceled all sub-varsity games Thursday.
The Mart ISD’s online dashboard Friday showed no active cases and 11 total since Aug. 19.
The McGregor ISD’s online dashboard Friday showed two active cases at McGregor Primary; seven at McGregor Elementary; one at Isbill Junior High and nine at McGregor High School. High school students shifted to remote instruction this week and are scheduled to return to campus Monday.
The Lorena ISD dashboard Friday showed two cases involving students and two involving staff at Lorena Primary School; one involving a student at Lorena Elementary; one involving an employee at Lorena Middle School, and one involving a student at Lorena High School.
MCLENNAN COUNTY COVID-19 DEATHS
TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOL COVID-19 DATA
CORYELL COUNTY
Coryell County reported 1,013 total cases Friday, an increase of 42.
Of the total, 219 cases were active Friday and 781 patients have recovered.
State data, which include Texas Department of Criminal Justice inmates in the county, showed a total of 2,168 cases Friday, an increase of 50, and 1,948 recoveries.
Dr. Diedra Wuenschel, Coryell Health Medical Clinic director, has been appointed as Coryell County’s health authority as concerns about the virus rise.
The Gatesville ISD this week temporarily canceled classes and all extracurricular activities including Gatesville High School’s football playoff game Friday night against Carthage in Athens. Monday will be a virtual learning day. Students return to campus Tuesday.
The Copperas Cove ISD’s online dashboard Friday showed 26 active cases at Copperas Cove High School, six of them involving employees and 20 involving students; one involving a student at Cove Junior High; one involving a student and two involving employees at S.C. Lee Junior High; two involving employees at Fairview Jewell Elementary; one involving a student and one involving an employee at Hettie Halstead Elementary; one involving a student at House Creek Elementary; one involving a student and two involving employees at Martin Walker Elementary; two involving students at Williams-Ledger Elementary, and one involving an employee at the District Training Facility.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice Friday showed 11 cases involving inmates and 23 cases involving employees at the Christina Melton Crain Unit in Gatesville where 190 inmates were on medical restriction and 13 were isolated; five cases involving employees at the Hilltop Unit in Gatesville where three inmates were restricted; three cases involving inmates and three involving employees at the Alfred D. Hughes Unit in Gatesville where 282 inmates were medically restricted and five were medically isolated; three cases involving employees at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville where 10 inmates were medically restricted; two cases involving employees at the Dr. Lane Murray Unit in Gatesville where eight inmates were on restriction, and three cases involving employees at the Linda Woodman State Jail in Gatesville.
State data show 14 deaths in the county, but according to local data the virus has claimed 13 lives in the county including a Copperas Cove man in his 70s who died on April 9 at Advent Hospital in Killeen, to which he was admitted on April 2; a Copperas Cove man in his 60s who was diagnosed with the virus on April 5; a Copperas Cove man whose death was reported on July 8, and a Gatesville man in his 60s whose death was reported on July 12.
The Cove House Free Clinic at 806 West Avenue D, Suite H, is offering free COVID-19 testing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays. Appointments are required and may be made by calling (254) 289-9865.
TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOL COVID-19 DATA
FALLS COUNTY
Falls County reported 718 total cases Friday, an increase of six.
Of the total, 661 patients have recovered.
State data showed an 11th death in the county.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice Friday reported 31 cases involving employees at the William P. Hobby Unit in Marlin, and four cases involving inmates and six involving employees at the Marlin Transfer Facility where 51 inmates were medically restricted and four were isolated.
LIMESTONE COUNTY
Limestone County reported 698 total cases Friday, an increase of four.
Of the total, 652 patients have recovered.
RQ Sims Intermediate School in Mexia was closed this week. On-campus instruction will resume Monday.
The virus has claimed 16 lives in the county.
The first resident to die was a Mexia woman in her late 50s to early 60s with underlying health conditions who died on March 31 at Parkview Regional Hospital in Mexia after she was diagnosed with COVID-19.
TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOL COVID-19 DATA
NAVARRO COUNTY
Navarro County Friday reported 1,593 active cases, an increase of 25, an 657 probable cases for a total of 2,250.
Of the total, 190 cases were active Friday, eight patients were hospitalized, and 2,020 have recovered.
Local data showed 40 deaths.
State data showed 35.
TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOL COVID-19 DATA
OTHER COUNTIES
According to the latest figures Friday Bosque County was reporting 476 cases and 393 recoveries. State data based on death certificates and county of residence showed 14 deaths.
Freestone County reported a total of 482 cases Friday. Of the total 449 patients have recovered. A seventh resident has died, according to state data. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice Friday reported five cases involving employees Friday at the William R. Boyd Unit in Teague where 82 inmates were medically restricted.
Hamilton County reported 247 cases Friday, an increase of two. Of the total 188 patients have recovered. State data showed seven deaths in the county.
Hill County reported a total of 996 cases Friday, an increase of eight, and 812 recoveries. Sixteen residents have died. The Hill College dashboard showed no active cases at the school’s Hillsboro campus. The Hillsboro ISD reported three cases involving students at Hillsboro Elementary; three cases involving students at Hillsboro Intermediate; six cases involving students and one involving an employee at Hillsboro Junior High and 12 involving students and one involving an employee at Hillsboro High School.
Lampasas County reported 340 cases Friday, and 297 recoveries. Nine residents diagnosed with the virus have died.
Leon County reported 425 cases Friday and 332 recoveries. State data showed 13 deaths.
Milam County reported 590 confirmed cases Friday. Of the total, 24 cases were active Friday, four patients were hospitalized, and 555 have recovered. The county reported nine deaths.
Mills County reported 111 cases and 75 recoveries Friday. State data showed three deaths. The county’s first death from the virus was reported on Oct. 21.
Robertson County reported 512 total cases Friday. Of the total, 67 cases were active, seven patients were hospitalized, and 441 patients have recovered. The county is reporting four deaths from the virus. State data showed six deaths.
San Saba County reported 263 cases Friday and 110 recoveries. Five residents have died. Three employees had active cases of the virus Friday at the San Saba Transfer Unit.
TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOL COVID-19 DATA
COVID-19 INFORMATION, LINKS AND RESOURCES
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