Month of November saw active cases of COVID-19 increase in Coryell County

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press 

From Oct. 30 to Nov. 30, the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in Coryell County rose by 482, from 827 to 1,309. Active cases rose from 131 to 390.

Those numbers are as per the COVID-19 tracker which is updated by Coryell County. It does not include positive case counts for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities, nor does it count cases which the county received from the state which did not include a physical address or gave a post office box for an address.  

Then on Dec. 2, Coryell County released an update, reflecting 1,347 total cases, of which 411 are presently active. 

Copperas Cove released an amended report on Monday afternoon, listing a total of 728 cases within the city limits, which includes 231 currently active cases. 

CCISD: 91 total cases as of Nov. 15 among students and staff

On Monday Nov. 30, the first day of school after the Thanksgiving holiday, Copperas Cove Independent School District listed a total of 28 presently active cases among students and staff, which was down from the 39 active cases. 

That number decreased to 26 active cases as of Thursday morning. The majority of the active cases are at Copperas Cove High School, with three students and five staff. 

Other cases include Crossroads High School (1 staff), Copperas Cove Junior High (1 student, 1 staff), S.C. Lee Junior High (3 students, 1 staff). Out of the seven CCISD elementary campuses and one prekindergarten campus, only two campuses had active student cases as of Thursday morning, one at Martin Walker Elementary and one at Williams/Ledger Elementary. 

There are a total of six staff active cases, four at Mae Stevens Early Learning Academy and one each at Clements/Parsons, Fairview/Miss Jewell, and House Creek. There two active staff cases among “non-campus personnel.”

As of the Nov. 15 report to the Texas Education Agency, CCISD has had a total of 56 students and 35 staff, or a total of 91 confirmed positive cases. With contact tracing, it was learned that 24 were acquired while on campus, 60 off campus and seven unknown.

All of the numbers are out of a total enrollment of 8,087 as of Oct. 30, according to the report filed with the Texas Education Agency. Of that total, a little more than half attend classes on campus, or 4,383 students.

In late October, the TEA announced a pilot program for COVID-19 testing for Texas school districts to include students and staff, with neighboring Lampasas ISD being named as one of the eight districts taking part in the voluntary testing program. 

Then, the TEA opened up the program to school districts statewide to participate in the program. Voluntary testing of students under age 18 is made available with parent/guardian permission as well as testing for staff, at no cost. 

Until now, Lampasas ISD was the only area school district taking part in the program which was opened to districts statewide starting in November. 

However, this week, Killeen ISD announced that it would also be participating. The rapid testing program uses BinaxNOW tests, which provide results in 15 minutes and are administered using a nasal swab in the front area of the nostril. The free tests became available at KISD on Thursday, Dec. 3, according to the district’s website. 

As far as CCISD goes, the district has not announced any plans to join the state’s testing program. 

COVID-19 vaccine on the horizon for Texas

The state of Texas entered the month of December with a one-day high of 15,182 new cases on Dec. 1. Active cases are down slightly, at 188,917. Total positive cases have risen to 1,200,674. So far, there have been 21,756 fatalities statewide. 

The seven-day positivity rate is  11.86 percent, meaning the average of those testing positive for COVID-19 is 11.86 percent out of all tests conducted in the past seven days. 

Hospitalizations statewide numbered 9,109, making up 13.82 percent of all hospitalizations. Locally, in Trauma Service Region L, there are 110 hospitalized for COVID-19 out of a total of 1,223. That’s up from 88 hospitalized as of Sunday.

On Wednesday, the office of Governor Greg Abbott announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made an initial allotment of over 1.4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines to the state of Texas for the month of December. These vaccines, which should begin arriving in Texas the week of December 14th, will be distributed to qualifying providers across the state who will administer these immunizations based on the Vaccine Distribution Principles developed by the state’s Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel. 

The principles include protecting healthcare and frontline workers, as well as “vulnerable populations.” Additional allotments may be made later in December, with increased allotments expected in January and the following months.

With the vaccine, from Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, being given in two doses, this means the first shipment is enough for 700,000 individuals. 

Coryell County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Harrell said on Thursday morning that it is all pending Emergency Use Authorization by the Federal Food and Drug Administration. 

“I anticipate seeing very limited quantities of the vaccine with specific health organizations in two to three weeks, very limited. It will be going to our first-line, essential healthcare workers,” Harrell added.

COVID-19 cases in Central Texas*

Bell County 1,114 active cases (8,816 total)  

Burnet County 236 active cases (1,461 total)

Coryell County 411 active cases (1,347 total)

Copperas Cove (city) 231 active cases (728 total) 

TDCJ-Coryell Co. 79 active cases (1,184 total)

Lampasas County 46 active cases (584 total)

McLennan County 803 active cases (14,672 total)

Williamson County 770 active cases (14,531 total)

*As of press time Thursday, numbers from Texas DSHS, City of Copperas Cove, CCISD, Coryell County, Bell County Public Health District