Coryell restaurants, other businesses may expand capacity back to 75%

By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press 

This week, the office of Coryell County Judge Roger Miller received notification from the Texas Department of State Health Services that Trauma Service Area L no longer met the definition of an area with high hospitalizations for COVID-19 as of Tuesday, Feb. 9. 
Coryell County is located within Trauma Service Area L, which had hospitalizations for COVID-19 exceeding 15 percent of all patients hospitalized in area hospitals. Trauma Service Area L is also made up of Bell, Lampasas, Hamilton, Mills, and Milam Counties.
Back on Jan. 6, hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19 had risen to as high as 21.6 percent, or roughly 1 out of every 5 patients hospitalized within the local area. 
This required hospitals to cease elective surgeries and businesses, such as restaurants, to decrease to 50 percent capacity per Governor Greg Abbott’s Executive Order GA-32 from Oct. 7, 2020. 
As of Wednesday Feb. 10, area hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19 had fallen to 11.05 percent, numbering 126 out of 1,140 local patients hospitalized. 
Statewide, there were 9,165 patients with COVID-19 out of a total 70,599 hospitalized.
Meanwhile, vaccines continue to arrive in the area weekly, with Coryell Health in Gatesville 
accepting names and information online for a waiting list. The link for Coryell Health can be found at https://app.blockitnow.com/consumer/coryell-health. Coryell Health email is covidvaccine@coryellhealth.org. 
The county will continue to receive vaccine doses weekly and continue to administer vaccines to those on the waiting list, and as openings arise. There has been no announcement of any future vaccine clinics in Copperas Cove itself. 
Bell County also continues to administer vaccinations and has signups online. Signups open every Tuesday for scheduling appointments for the following five days, for the Killeen Community Center and at the vaccination location in Temple. Those appointment links can be accessed at www.bellcountytx.com/vax-killeen and at www.bellcountytx.com/vax-temple. The waiting list for Bell County can be accessed at https://form.jotform.com/210244388501045. 
CVS also announced that it would begin providing no-cost COVID-19 vaccines in Texas and 18 other states. Online access is needed to sign up for a vaccine at https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine. However, the Killeen CVS location is not currently on the list of CVS pharmacies in Texas providing vaccination. The nearest CVS Pharmacy locations available on the list for scheduling vaccine appointments are Temple, Waco, Georgetown, and Austin. 
 

COVID-19 cases in Central Texas*
Bell County    1,265 active cases    (19.881 total)  
Burnet County    1,002 active cases    (3,601 total)
Coryell County    879 active cases    (4,845 total)
    Copperas Cove (city)    570 active cases    (2,516 total)
Lampasas County    146 active cases    (1,910 total)
McLennan County    641 active cases    (24,122 total)
Williamson County    943 active cases    (34,101 total)

*Numbers from Texas DSHS, Coryell County, Lampasas County; Bell, McLennan, and Williamson County Public Health Districts