Nearly 200 More Coronavirus Cases Reported In Travis County

AUSTIN, TX — Nearly 200 additional cases of the coronavirus were positively diagnosed on Sunday, although no new deaths were reported.

The data come one day after 239 additional cases of respiratory illness and seven deaths were reported by Austin Public Health officials on Saturday. Since the onset of illness in the county, 203 residents have died of the virus for which no vaccine exists, as indicated in the health district's statistical dashboard.

The data indicate there have now been 17,646 cases of coronavirus since the illness began sweeping across the county, including an estimated 14,059 recoveries. There were 192 new cases added to the historical count on Sunday. There are 480 current hospitalizations across the county, according to the dashboard, including 158 patients being treated at intensive care units and another 110 on ventilators to help them breathe.

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Travis County officials have made preparations for an influx of coronavirus patients in the past few days. Austin Mayor Steve Adler recently revealed on his Facebook "Got a Minute?" segment the Austin Convention Center has been prepped as a makeshift field hospital should a surge of coronavirus patients not able to be accommodated at hospitals emerge.

And on Friday, Travis County spokesperson Hector Nieto told Patch in a telephone interview the county has ordered three refrigerated trucks as makeshift morgues. Nieto stressed the move was made "in an abundance of caution" in the event of a surge in fatalities. He also noted the refrigerated vehicles would also be used for deceased residents who may have not succumbed to coronavirus but other manners of death. The aim of the trucks is to "to make certain that local funeral homes and private morgues have the capacity," for coronavirus deaths, Nieto said.