In its final daily coronavirus report for the year, Williamson County added 332 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total to 20,411, according to the Williamson County and Cities Health District daily report.
Due to the increase in cases, the WCCHD has asked that anyone who gathered or traveled during the holidays stay home for seven days, even if they test negative. Anyone who tests positive should isolate for 10 days to protect others from getting infected, it said.
According to the Dec. 30 report, there are 111 patients hospitalized, 45 in intensive care units and 25 on ventilators in the county. The WCCHD also reported 22% of hospital beds, 7% of ICU beds and 70% of ventilators are available.
The county also added two deaths, bringing the total to 203.
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.
Williamson County continues to sit at the red level for coronavirus transmission risk. This is characterized by uncontrolled community spread, according to the WCCHD.
Of the total cases reported, 18,905 are estimated to have recovered, and there are an estimated 1,303 active cases. There are 2,476 total probable cases.
The current rolling seven-day positivity rate, or the rate at which tests for the coronavirus return positive, is at 12.44% and continues to rise slightly.
Recoveries are not reported to the state’s contact tracing and data system; therefore, recovery information is not absolute and is to be used for estimating purposes only, according to the WCCHD website. No trends or other inferences should be drawn from this data, as the numbers posted represent a point-in-time snapshot and may fluctuate throughout the day, it said.
Total cases by cities of residence, including probable cases, according to the WCCHD, are as follows.
- Austin: 1,527
- Cedar Park: 2,051
- Georgetown: 4,162
- Hutto: 1,440
- Leander: 1,532
- Round Rock: 5,627
- Other: 2,755
Here is a breakdown of deaths by city, according to the WCCHD.
- Cedar Park: 29
- Georgetown: 40
- Not specified: 13
- Other: 34
- Round Rock: 87