State’s active COVID-19 cases drop below 100,000

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press 

The City of Copperas Cove’s update issued by the city on Monday morning noted a total of 288 positive confirmed cases within the city limits, with 76 active cases, 209 recovered/no longer active, and three fatalities. 

New to the list for this week’s update include 19 new active cases, dated Aug. 17, 20, 21, 24, 25, and 26. Those dates are as received from the Texas Department of State Health Services, and not necessarily when those individuals tested positive. 

Among the 19 listed as new active cases are four boys under the age of 10 (Aug. 24 and 26), as well as a girl and a boy between the ages of 10-19 (Aug. 25). The other new cases include four individuals in their 30s, two in their 40s, one in their 50s, two in their 70s, and three in their 80s. 

Coryell County reported a total of 536 positive confirmed cases on Friday afternoon, which includes 192 active cases within Coryell County, 338 recovered, and six deceased. 

However, the timeliness with which Region 7 of the Texas Department of State Health Services issues its updates to counties which make up the region, has caused a lag in reporting. 

Back to School: COVID-19 dashboard coming 

Now that school districts across Texas, including the Copperas Cove Independent School District and other school districts in Coryell County, have resumed classes, there will be another element to recording and tracking any positive COVID-19 cases. 

The Copperas Cove Independent School District is working on its case reporting dashboard, as mandated by the Texas Education Agency in its planning and guidance for reopening schools across the state. 

The TEA will be also monitoring, tracking, and coordinating responses to cases within school districts, with districts reporting laboratory-confirmed cases among its students and staff. 

County Judge: “No confidence” in DSHS case numbers, reporting 

Coryell County Judge Roger Miller said on Friday that he is prepared to bring a resolution to the county commissioners during their first regular meeting in September. 

In August, the Collin County Commissioners Court approved a court order, in which commissioners okayed adding the following language to its online reports for COVID-19 cases and tracking: 

“The Collin County Commissioners Court hereby approves the following disclaimer on the Collin County COVID-19 dashboard: Collin County is providing COVID-19 numbers and data as a convenience to our residents, however, because we have been made aware of the inaccuracies in the State reporting, we must advise that Collin County does not have confidence in the accuracy of the data currently being provided by the State DSHS.”

Miller wants to put similar language on the county’s tracker, which is updated regularly on the county’s website and includes the most recent case number, along with the age and gender demographics, and city of residence for active cases. 

Uptick in active cases at TDCJ in Coryell County 

There has been an uptick in positive cases inside the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison units within Coryell County. As of Sunday, the Hughes Unit alone has reported a total of 308 active cases among inmates, with 31 recoveries. That number is a sharp contrast to an update last week. The remainder of the units have no active cases, to include Mountain View, Murray, Hilltop, and Woodman State Jail, with the Crain Unit having only 30 active cases and 27 recoveries. 

Although TDCJ maintains its own case count tracking and reports those to the DSHS, the DSHS dashboard reflects a total of 868 cases in Coryell County as of Sunday – a number which is to include TDCJ. However, with a total of 579 cases, a number which includes active, recovered, and fatalities, the numbers don’t add up, with Coryell County itself having a total of 536 cases aside from TDCJ. 

Central Texas, state by the numbers: active cases below 100,000 

Like Coryell County, Bell County’s cases continue to increase even as active cases decrease, with active cases falling to 793. 

Lampasas County has seen a slight increase in cases, with a new reported total of 245 as of Wednesday, and active cases numbering 20. 

Despite the number of positive cases still increasing in the state, the number of active cases is going down statewide as well. 

The active case numbers in the state of Texas include a total of 98,326 active cases, at its lowest number since July 8, when there were an estimated 104,467 active cases in the state. Altogether, there are a total of 610,354 confirmed positive cases, and an estimated 499,518 recoveries. Fatalities are at 12,510, with 90 fatalities added on Sunday afternoon.

Hospitalizations have declined to 4,172 statewide, with 49 hospitalized in Region L, which includes hospitals in Coryell and Bell Counties. 

The seven-day testing positivity rate is at 12.24 percent as of Sunday afternoon, and dropped to 11.96 percent on Monday.

COVID-19 cases in Central Texas*

Bell County     4,662   (664)

Burnet County            665      (89 active)

Coryell County            536 (192 active)

            Copperas Cove (city) 288 (76 active)  

            TDCJ in Coryell County 579 (308 active)

Lampasas County        264      (21 active)      

McLennan County      6,228   (1,799 active)

Williamson County     7,893  (124 active)

*As of press time Monday, numbers from Texas DSHS, City of Copperas Cove, Coryell County, Bell County, TDCJ COVID-19 dashboard