CCISD launches COVID-19 dashboard, statewide active cases drop

By LYNETTE SOWELL 

Cove Leader-Press 

The Copperas Cove Independent School District ended its third week of classes, and along with the end of the week, launched its online dashboard for counting active test-confirmed COVID-19 cases among its students and staff. 

So far, there were only five such cases as of Friday afternoon, two students at House Creek Elementary, two students at Copperas Cove High School, and one staff member of Copperas Cove Junior High School 

The dashboard can be found at ccisd.com under the tab “Parents” (https://www.ccisd.com/290332_2) and will be updated whenever there are test-positive cases, said Wendy Sledd, CCISD’s Director of Communications. 

Altogether, there were 4,254 students whose families chose on-campus learning to start the 2020-2021 school year, or about. 

Sledd noted that all parents/guardians of students on the campus are notified the same day that the school receives notification of a test-confirmed positive COVID-19 case, and that students who are believed to have been in close contact with the infected student or staff member are notified by phone so everything can be explained clearly and all questions can be answered.

Close contact is defined by the TEA as being directly exposed to infectious secretions, such as being coughed on, or being within six feet for a cumulative duration of 15 minutes, if both parties are not properly masked, with that contact occurring during the infectious period of the case, defined as two days prior to symptom onset to 10 days after symptom onset. 

Last week’s City of Copperas Cove weekly update noted 288 positive confirmed cases within the city limits, to include 76 active cases and 209 recovered/no longer active, and three fatalities. 

Coryell County’s tracker showed there were a total of 552 cases in the county itself, with 208 of those cases being active, 338 recovered, and six fatalities, prior to the holiday weekend. 

Numbers continue to rise for active cases at TDCJ facilities

Two of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice correctional facilities in Coryell County have continued to see a spike in numbers, with a total of 928 inmates having tested positive for the virus. Presently, there are 581 active cases in the Hughes Unit, 95 active cases in the Crain Unit, with the remainder of the units having no active cases. Hilltop is the only TDCJ facility in Coryell County which has not had any inmates test positive. Inmates incarcerated at facilities located within the county are counted not just by the TDCJ, but also by Region 7 of the Texas Department of State Health Services for the county’s numbers overall. 

As of Friday, those numbers for Coryell County stood at 1,443 cases of COVID-19, as reported by the Texas DSHS. As of June 9, DSHS removed the TDCJ numbers from the report it issues to the county. 

Even so, there are still some questionable cases that Coryell County officials are refusing to count. 

On Sept. 3, county officials noted seven cases who were not county residents. Sometimes, it will occur when an individual might list their address as Copperas Cove, but resides in Lampasas County or even Bell County. 

Additionally, there were 16 probable causes listed, another number which county officials will not add to their updated list. Lastly, there were 23 listed in the state’s report which had an unknown address. Adding those to the mix would give Coryell County a total of 598 cases, apart from the TDCJ cases. 

Bell County now at “Transmission Level 3”

As of Sept. 2, Bell County no longer updated their only dashboard, which stood at a total of 4,790 cases, 467 of those being active cases. Instead, the county directs users to another link, which notes that four transmission levels, ranging from 1-4, with 1 being “severe uncontrolled community transmission,” to  4, which is “minimal, controlled transmission.” Presently, Bell County Health District reports it is at a level 3, which is “moderate controlled transmission,” with demonstrated reduction in transmission due to public health measures or other factors; public health systems within capacity; and healthcare system within capacity.

Lampasas County has increased to 273 total cases, with an uptick in active cases to 23, with 242 recoveries and eight fatalities.  

Altogether, there are a total of 621,667 confirmed positive cases in the state of Texas, with an estimated 522,087 recoveries. 

As of late Friday afternoon, the active COVID-19 cases in the state of Texas number 85,375, with an estimated 532,223 recoveries. Altogether, 13,231 have died from the virus in Texas, with 140 additional fatalities added on Friday. 

Hospitalizations statewide have dropped to below 4,000, at 3,889, and are at their lowest since June 23. The seven-day testing positivity rate statewide remains below 10 percent, at 9.74 percent.

COVID-19 cases in Central Texas*

Bell County     “Transmission Level 3” 4,790   (467)

Burnet County            664      (84 active)

Coryell County            552 (207 active)

            Copperas Cove (city) 288 (76 active)  

            TDCJ in Coryell County 928 (676 active)

Lampasas County        273      (23 active)      

McLennan County      6,629   (1,852 active)

Williamson County     8,006 (88 active)

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