The Bell County Public Health District and area mayors are encouraging residents to get vaccinated as coronavirus continues to spread and burden area hospitals.
For the past five weeks, since Aug. 5, Bell County’s COVID-19 threat level has been rated at the highest level — “severe uncontrolled community transmission.”
Level 1, according to the Bell County Public Health District’s website, means “community outbreaks (are) present and worsening.”
The health district has recorded a total of 30,011 positive cases of COVID-19 since the entity began tracking the virus last year. Killeen’s COVID-19 case count accounts for 42% of all cases recorded in Bell County, according to the health district’s online dashboard.
In recent days, the city of Killeen published three public service announcement videos encouraging residents to get vaccinated against the virus. On Sunday, five area leaders — Bell County Judge David Blackburn, Killeen mayor Jose Segarra, Temple mayor Timothy Davis, Harker Heights mayor Spencer Smith and Belton mayor Wayne Carpenter — published in Sunday’s Herald an “open letter” to residents explaining why getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is important.
“Our hospitals have been full and working to capacity,” the letter stated. “...Our health care workers are exhausted. We have asked the State for help in staffing our hospitals. Overall health care services in Bell County are stressed. Why? Because COVID19 patients have filled the beds. Beds that would otherwise be available for those in need of hospitalization... like someone who has had a stroke, or a heart attack, or in a car accident.”
More than 12,700 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Killeen since the pandemic began, according to county health district.
According to the letter, 93% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated and 96% of COVID-19 patients that are in the ICU are unvaccinated.
“This data isn’t from the CDC or from the State,” the letter states. “It’s data from Bell County hospitals. It’s from your family, your friends, your neighbors. ...Please go get vaccinated.”
The governing board of the Bell County Public Health District also published an open letter to residents in Sunday’s paper.
Bell County’s vaccination rate is hovering around 38.7%, according to the health district.
“We are writing to urge you to consider what else you can do to protect yourself and your fellow citizens from the threat of SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19),” the health district states. “...The good news is that there are multiple things that we can do to help mitigate the spread of the virus.”
The health district’s letter lists five recommendations including indoor masking, getting vaccinated, frequent hand washing, social distancing, and avoiding crowded indoor spaces.
“The time to act is now,” the health district states. “Unless we come together to take the necessary steps, further outbreaks will be inevitable. As the spread continues, we will see increased disruptions to our educational systems due to not only those suffering from symptoms, but also from those needed to quarantine to reduce further spread.”
As of Monday, the Killeen Independent School District reported 266 active cases of coronavirus, a decrease from the district’s high of 425 active cases on Sept. 4.
A second pro-mask rally will be held outside the Killeen ISD headquarters at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday just prior to the district’s regularly scheduled school board meeting.
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