Bell County reported 18 new deaths due to COVID-19 on its dashboard Thursday, raising the toll to 844 as cases continue to drop.
The deaths included a woman in her 20s, a woman and two men in their 50s, three women and two men in their 60s, three men in their 70s, three men and a woman in their 80s, a man and a woman in their 90s and a man in his 100s.
Milam County reported a new death to bring that county’s total to 98. The county reported a total of 2,915 total cases since the pandemic started.
Cases drop
About 17 new cases of COVID-19 were reported by the Bell County Public Health District Thursday for a total of 443 active cases.
The county’s incidence rate went down to 122.06 cases per 100,000 residents in the county.
Of the 47,047 cases reported since the pandemic started, 45,760 have recovered, and 844 people died.
The health district’s dashboard showed Trauma Service Area L had 76 of the 1,040 available hospital beds in the area have been taken up by COVID-19 patients. The service area covers about 512,799 residents in Bell, Coryell, Hamilton, Lampasas, Milam, and Mills counties.
School cases
Belton Independent School District reported two cases of the virus in the district. One case is at High Point Elementary, the other at Belton High School.
Temple ISD had no confirmed cases of COVID-19 on its dashboard.
Killeen ISD reported eight student cases on its dashboard.
FREE VACCINATIONS, TESTING, MASKS
Several places in Temple offer vaccinations and testing, including CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, the Veterans Administration Hospital, and the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center and clinics.
Free at-home test kits are available at covidtests.gov. Tests are limited to four per household and are shipped through the U.S. Postal Service.
About 400 million N95 masks will be available free of cost through a federal program. H-E-B pharmacies in Temple have a limited amount of masks available to the public until supplies last.
