Of the confirmed cases, 155 patients have recovered, a district report said. The seventh person to die was a woman in her 60s, the report said.
"As joyful as I am that we are beginning to open up Williamson County at the end of this week, we are again reminded of the seriousness of this disease. Today, we lost another resident of our Williamson County. My prayers are with her family," Gravell said in a news release.
Currently, there are eight patients hospitalized, and one is on a ventilator, per the report. In addition, Gravell said the county health district is currently working on a second nursing home cluster, but no further details were immediately available. Williamson County numbers jumped over the weekend after at least 46 patients and staff at a Round Rock nursing home tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
On April 27, the county reported 287 cases.
During an April 28 Commissioners Court meeting, Commissioner Cynthia Long made a push to emphasize hospitalizations and hospital capacity when determining how the county is doing in controlling the virus as the county ramps up testing.
“New cases and total cases are less relevant as we ramp up testing,” Long said.
Beginning April 30, the county will test the symptomatic general public for the virus. Long said eventually she hopes to begin testing asymptomatic individuals.
So far, 50 people have been scheduled to be tested at the county site with 41 considered at high risk, Long said. Those who seek a test must first complete an online assessment.
Long added her goal is to test 6,000 individuals—or about 1% of the county population—in the next four weeks. During the April 28 meeting, the court voted to purchase an additional 3,500 tests to be added to the 2,000 tests the county currently has stockpile with 1,000 left aside for first responders and nursing homes should another cluster break out. So far, approximately 3,800 tests have been conducted by both private and public entities in Williamson County, Gravell said.
Here is an update on the cities of residence where confirmed cases are located, according to the WCCHD.
- Austin: 18
- Cedar Park: 25
- Georgetown: 33
- Hutto: 25
- Leander: 31
- Round Rock: 124
- Other: 31
Gravell 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.
