Travis County reports 7 new coronavirus deaths July 6

According to Austin Public Health, there have been 144 coronavirus-related deaths in Travis County, with seven deaths July 6 after reporting four additional deaths over the previous three days.

A bus operator who worked for Capital Metro since 2007 has died after testing positive for COVID-19, according to the public transportation agency. Cap Metro reported the employee died on July 5, and his last day on the job was June 21. The date of his positive test was not given.

Previously, Cap Metro reported a separate employee died June 30 after testing positive for COVID-19 on June 18. That individual worked as a MetroAccess operator, providing rides for community members with with disabilities for more than five years. An employee who worked as a bus mechanic also died April 4 after testing positive.

The county also saw 247 new confirmed cases, with 69 new hospitalizations in the Austin metropolitan area July 6.

With 64.6 new hospitalizations per day on average over the past week according to Austin Public Health, the area is currently in the upper parts of Stage 4 risk. If new hospitalizations per day were to increase to more than 70, the county would enter Stage 5, meaning hospital capacity could be in danger, and additional health and local government officials could put safety restrictions in place.

Overall, there have been 11,926 confirmed cases in the county and 8,905 estimated recoveries.