2 More Coronavirus Deaths In WilCo Raises Fatality Count To 79

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — Two more deaths reported in Williamson County on Wednesday has raised the historical death count to 79, officials confirmed.

The latest to die of the respiratory illness were two women in their 70s. Health District officials are precluded from providing further details in accordance to patient privacy laws.

“Our hearts are heavy as we bear another day of bad news," Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said in a prepared statement. "To the two families today, and the more than 70 before today that have suffered loss due to COVID-19, I want you to know that you are in my prayers every day and you are not alone. I ask our Williamson County family to stand with me in support of these families and join me in their sorrow. Let’s continue doing our part to preserve the lives around us.”

Don't miss the latest coronavirus updates from health and government officials in the Austin area. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters for what you need to know daily.

The reach of coronavirus in the county has been especially lethal in the past 30 days or so. The pair of deaths reported on Wednesday follow three more — a man in his 80s and two women in their 80s and 90s — reported the day before. On Monday, a man and woman in their 90s were reported to have died of the respiratory illness. The day before that, a woman in her 70s and a man in his 90s died of the illness, health officials reported.

On Saturday, three people were reported to have died — a man in his 60s, another in his 80s and a woman in her 80s. Last Friday (July 17), a woman in her 80s and a man in his 50s succumbed to the illness. The day before on Thursday, health officials reported four deaths in a single day — all women, ranging in ages from their 60s to their 90s. The day before that, five fatalities were reported in a 24-hour period — the highest number of fatalities in a single day, a county spokesperson told Patch. Those July 15 deaths involved a man in his 50s, another in his 70s, two women in their 80s and another in her 70s.

Related stories:

• 2 More WilCo Residents Die Of Coronavirus, Death Count 74
• 3 More Coronavirus Deaths In WilCo Raise Count To 77
  

According to the Williamson County and Cities Health District statistical dashboard, the county has had 5,071 confirmed cases of the respiratory illness since the onset of COVID-19 infection in the region. The total is 90 more than on Tuesday, when 93 more cases emerged from the previous day.

The data further show there are an estimated 919 active cases of the illness in the county. Currently, there are 115 county residents hospitalized — 38 being treated at intensive care units and 20 placed on ventilators to help them breathe — as shown on the dashboard.

Amid illness spikes, hospital resources continue to dwindle as the dashboard shows. The latest data from Tuesday (July 21) show 25 percent of hospital beds in the county as currently available, and just 5 percent of intensive care unit (ICU) beds. Ventilators are more plentiful, according to the data, with 66 percent availability.

Several county residents recently have reached out to Patch of late in connection to recovery data, which now are sporadically reported. Once thought a reliably factual metric, recoveries data are now presented with a disclaimer from health officials in describing the figures' veracity against other measurable metrics offered. Given the less-than-accurate barometer, Patch at times now does not report the number in its daily updates on illness rates.

Williamson County and Cities Health District officials offer a warning of sorts in extrapolating data related to coronavirus recoveries.

The latest dashboard for Wednesday shows that an estimated 4,073 patients have recovered from the respiratory illness since contracting the virus. But health district officials offer the following disclaimer to those parsing the metrics: "Recoveries are not a reportable condition to Public Health, therefore, recovery data are not absolute and are to be used for estimating purposes only," health officials wrote. "No trends or other inferences should be drawn from these data. The numbers posted represent a point in time snapshot and may fluctuate throughout the day. Deaths and recovered are included in the total positive cases."

Health officials offered a similar disclaimer centered on medical resources: "Hospital capacity data are only representative of the hospitals that have reported in the last 24 hours," officials wrote. "These data are provisional and are subject to change at any time."

On Wednesday, health officials further added that added hospitalization data was not updated due to technical issues with the data feed. Instead, the numbers reflect the July 21 data.

For more information on the latest COVID-19 cases count in Williamson County, visit the Williamson County and Cities Health District dashboard. The site is updated daily by around 4:30 p.m. Find more information on the county response to COVID-19.

Those experiencing respiratory illness symptoms such as cough, fever and shortness of breath, are highly urged to contact their health care providers. However, health district officials stress the importance of calling ahead before arriving at a clinic, urgent care or emergency department to avoid potential spread.