“Improvements were made to daily data imports from the Texas Health Trace system and other electronic reporting methods. Case data from these imports were merged and analyzed for the past year,” the WCCHD said in a news release. “Increased validation methods to improve accuracy were also implemented.”
The dashboard has now been updated to include cases and deaths that occurred between Feb. 13-March 1. The WCCHD reported 1,108 total new cases, bringing the total to 35,635, and 36 new deaths, bringing the total to 398, between Feb. 13-March 1.
Counted deaths are of those who have COVID-19 listed as a direct cause of death on the death certificate. The total does not include deaths of people who had COVID-19 but died of an unrelated cause, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services dashboard. This method may delay reporting by weeks or even months due to paperwork, county health officials have said.
The district said COVID-19 activity in February was down from January but is showing an increase after the winter storms of mid-February. The incidence rate, or rate of new infections, has increased from 6.37 as of Feb. 22 to 16.40 as of Feb. 28.
To move from Red, or Uncontrolled Spread, to Orange, or High Community Spread, the incidence rate needs to be below 12.7 for 14 consecutive days. The seven-day average positive test rate increased by 89% from Feb. 22 to Feb. 28, the district said.
The dashboard now includes the percentage of Williamson County population that has been fully or partially vaccinated.
As of March 1, 5.5% had been fully vaccinated and 11.7% had received one dose.
Total cases by cities of residence, including probable cases, according to the WCCHD, are as follows.
- Austin: 2,727
- Cedar Park: 3,383
- Georgetown: 7,605
- Hutto: 2,554
- Leander: 2,933
- Round Rock: 9,674
- Other: 4,790
If the WCCHD is unable to confirm the city of residence after three attempts, the case is deemed “lost to follow-up” and is not included in the above count, officials said.
Here is a breakdown of deaths by city, according to the WCCHD.
- Austin: 20
- Cedar Park: 64
- Georgetown: 93
- Other: 79
- Round Rock: 142
Officials said the county is not legally able to release the specific counts in cities with fewer than 20,000 residents. For more information, such as gender and age breakdowns, visit the county's dashboard.
