Nineteen new deaths and more than 230 new active cases of COVID-19 were reported by the Bell County Public Health District on Friday following three days of declines.
The increase comes as the county broke a total of 30,000 cases during the pandemic. Active cases of COVID-19 in the county are now at 1,877 with 576 deaths.
Nikki Morrow, interim director for the district, said the newly reported deaths occurred between July 8 and Sept. 1.
Included in the new deaths was one woman in her 30s, two women and a man in their 40s, two men in their 50s, four men and four women in their 60s, three women and a man in their 70s and a woman in her 80s.
The new cases have brought the incidence rate in the county to 517.2 per 100,000 people.
The district’s dashboard shows 27,558 recoveries from the virus.
As cases rose, hospital beds taken up by COVID-19 patients in Trauma Service Area L — which includes Bell County — dropped slightly Friday. The Texas Department of State Health Services showed that the region has 17.1 percent of its hospital beds taken up by patients with the virus.
The trauma service area includes Bell County as well as Coryell, Hamilton, Lampasas, Milam and Mills counties.
School cases
Temple Independent School showed 13 active and confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the district Friday, along with another 12 probable cases.
The confirmed cases included six at Temple High School, three at Bonham Middle School, and one each at Cater Elementary, Jefferson Elementary, Garcia Elementary and Thornton Elementary.
Belton ISD showed a total of 167 active cases on its dashboard Friday, including 66 confirmed and 101 probable cases. Each of the district’s 18 campuses have at least one confirmed or probable case.
This accounts for about 0.85 percent of the student and staff population of the district.
Salado ISD superintendent Michael Novotny said the district saw a drop of one active case Friday for a total of 38.
The cases in the district include eights students and three employees at Thomas Arnold Elementary, 11 students at Salado Middle School and 10 students and three employees at Salado High School. The district also saw three employees with the virus who were not assigned to a campus.
Killeen ISD showed a total of 386 active cases on its dashboard — 305 students and 81 employees — that account for 0.79 percent of its population.
Kincannon keeps masks in Waco
Waco ISD superintendent Susan Kincannon responded earlier this week to threats from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton regarding its recent mask mandate.
In a Facebook post, Paxton threatened to sue Texas districts if mask mandates are kept in place.
Kincannon, who previously served as Belton ISD superintendent, told KWKT-TV in Waco that Paxton, Gov. Greg Abbott and Education Commissioner Mike Morath needed to get their stories straight.
Previously, the state told a Dallas court that the governor and the attorney general would not enforce the mask provision of the governor’s mask order, while the Texas Education Agency said it would enforce it during ongoing litigation.
For now, Kincannon said the district would continue to require the wearing of masks inside all of its buildings.
“I’m not interested in politics,” Kincannon said. “I’m focused on taking care of kids, and that includes doing what we can as a school district to prevent COVID-19 from spreading in our schools and other facilities. We’ll continue to consult with medical experts and monitor both public health and legal developments.”
Federal education grants
On Thursday the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would launch a new grant program to provide funding to schools who implement COVID-19 measures, including mask mandates.
The grants would target school districts around the country that have had funding withheld by their states due to COVID-19 measures. The department said it planned on opening applications for its program in the coming weeks.
The grant program, called Project Supporting America’s Families and Educators, is expected to use funding from the Every Students Succeeds Act.
“Every student across the country deserves the opportunity to return to school in-person safely this fall, and every family should be confident that their school is implementing policies that keep their children safe,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a news release. “We should be thanking districts for using proven strategies that will keep schools open and safe, not punishing them. We stand with the dedicated educators doing the right thing to protect their school communities, and this program will allow them to continue that critical work of keeping students safe.”
Commented