WilCo Gains 337 New Coronavirus Cases In New Single-Day High

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — Williamson County health district officials reported a record 337 cases of the coronavirus days after putting the region on the highest alert denoted in red denoting uncontrolled community spread of the virus.

The latest data were input in a statistical dashboard maintained by Williamson County and Cities Health District. With the record-setting level of newly confirmed coronavirus cases — 129 more than the previous single-day high of 208 cases set on July 13 — there have been 12,272 cumulative illness cases since the beginning of the pandemic, as shown on the dashboard.

Williamson County and Cities Health District (WCCHD) officials conveyed a high level of concern over the illness increases, as they wrote in their latest update: "WCCHD is extremely concerned about the rapid increase in cases and hospitalizations, and the potential strain placed on our healthcare system," officials wrote.

"It will take all of us collectively to slow transmission enough to prevent our healthcare capacity from being exceeded," health officials continued. "The threat has never been greater. Immediate action has never been more necessary."

Health district officials have taken steps to help stem the tide, they wrote: "We are working with emergency management and hospital partners to address critical staff shortages. It is imperative at this me that we have 'all hands on deck' to strictly enforce any mitigation measures permitted under Gov. [Greg] Abbott's orders, including capacity limitations, mask and distancing enforcement, and isolation/quarantine procedures."

No new deaths were recorded, keeping the historical total at 162. As of Tuesday, the dashboard indicates, 62 residents of Williamson County were hospitalized for treatment of the illness.

Testing information and locations

CDC holiday celebrations guidance

Williamson County COVID-19 dashboard

To date, the dashboard shows, the county has undertaken 166,093 tests for the virus, with a rolling seven-day average positivity rate of 6.71 percent.

Health officials have expressed concern about residents traveling outside their homes to spend Thanksgiving with family members — gatherings that potentially could spread the illness further. On its Facebook page, the Williamson County and Cities Health District reminded residents to exercise safety precautions as they prepare for the holiday.

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In further illustrating the illness upticks, health officials ticked off current trends:

• "Yesterday, hospitalizations were at 62. Hospitalization numbers have increased over the past week. Seven-day average (11/16-11/22) of hospitalizations is at 58, compared to prior week’s (11/9-11/15) average of 39."
• "We saw 337 new cases reported to WCCHD yesterday. The averaged incidence for the week of 11/16-11/22 was 16.57 per every 100,000 population. This is significantly higher than the week prior (11/9/-11/15) which was 11.15 per every 100,000 population."
• "As in-person classes and school activities resume, more school cases and exposed contacts are being reported. School cases have steadily increased over the past week."

According to the dashboard, the cities in Williamson County with the highest number of cumulative cases of coronavirus are:

• Round Rock: 3,643.
• Georgetown: 2,331.
• Cedar Park: 1,023.
• Hutto: 762.
• Leander: 681.

The dashboard also records 1,467 cases in a category titled "other" that encompasses regions of the county with less than 20,000 population. Health district officials have previously explained they are not legally compelled to identify specific illness sources from among those regions given their small populations. Another 723 cases have emerged in the part of Austin that falls under the county's jurisdiction, as shown on the dashboard.

The new single-day high comes one day before the health district was poised for a four-day closure from Thursday to Sunday in observance of Thanksgiving Day. "The dashboard will not be updated during this time," officials wrote on the dashboard.