Seven new COVID-19 deaths were announced by the Bell County Public Health District.
Interim Bell County Public Health District Director Nikki Morrow said all the deaths occurred in January and included a man in his 20s, a female in her 60s, a man and woman in their 70s, a man in his 80s, and two men in their 90s.
About 447 new cases of COVID-19 were reported by the health district Thursday for a total of 4,823 active cases.
The county’s incidence rate went down to 1,328.93 cases per 100,000 residents in the county.
Of the 44,668 cases reported since the pandemic started, 39,090 have recovered, and 775 people have died.
The health district’s dashboard showed Trauma Service Area L had 260 of the 1,112 available hospital beds in the area taken up by COVID-19 patients. The service area covers about 512,799 residents in Bell, Coryell, Hamilton, Lampasas, Milam, and Mills counties.
Temple testing site to stop vaccinations
The Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport test site in Temple will discontinue vaccines and rapid testing starting Feb.1 and switch to PCR tests with results available in 72 hours.
The site is set up inside a hangar and accessible through the Aviation Business Park Entrance. The site offers testing for those aged 2 and up. Hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.
The site will run until Feb. 11.
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.
Some locations may require appointments or allow walk-ins. Information about the nearest vaccine location can be found by calling 1-800-232-0233.
School cases
Temple ISD showed 36 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on its dashboard.
The district’s confirmed cases included five at Travis Science Academy, five at Western Hills Elementary, five at Raye-Allen Elementary, four at Scott Elementary, four at Kennedy-Powell, three at Bonham Middle School, three at Temple High School, three at Jefferson Elementary, two at Cater Elementary, one at Thornton Elementary, and one at Hector P. Garcia Elementary.
Belton Independent School District reported 312 cases of the virus in the district, 122 confirmed and 190 probable.
Belton elementary schools showed 65 cases, nine at High Point, eight at Sparta, eight at Chisholm Trail, eight at Tarver, seven at Belton Early Childhood School, seven at Pirtle, five at Charter Oak, five at Miller Heights, three at Lakewood, three at Southwest, and two at Leon Heights.
Twenty-one cases were reported at the middle school level: 10 at North Belton, eight at Lake Belton, seven at Belton Middle, and four at South Belton.
Twenty-eight cases were reported at the high school level, with 14 at Belton High, ten at Lake Belton, and four at Belton New Tech @ Waskow.
Killeen ISD reported 735 student cases and 283 staff on their dashboard.
