Active COVID-19 cases almost triple in a week for Waco area
A worker administers a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday at the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District office, 225 W. Waco Drive, where vaccinations are available from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. The health district also will continue its clinics at community sites after the new year, with several scheduled next week at area schools.
Workers administer a COVID-19 test Tuesday at a drive-thru site outside Richland Mall. The county’s daily testing positivity rate hit 32% on Tuesday, a rate not seen for a year.
Workers make their way through the cars lined up Tuesday at a COVID-19 testing site outside Richland Mall. Tuesday’s testing positivity rate of 32% is high enough that it indicates not enough tests are being conducted to give an accurate picture of the number of cases in the county.
A worker administers a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday at the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District office, 225 W. Waco Drive, where vaccinations are available from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. The health district also will continue its clinics at community sites after the new year, with several scheduled next week at area schools.
Drivers line up at a COVID-19 testing site outside Richland Mall.
Drivers line up at a COVID-19 testing site outside Richland Mall.
A worker administers a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday at the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District office, 225 W. Waco Drive, where vaccinations are available from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. The health district also will continue its clinics at community sites after the new year, with several scheduled next week at area schools.
Drivers line up at a COVID-19 testing site outside Richland Mall.
Drivers line up at a COVID-19 testing site outside Richland Mall.
A worker administers a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday at the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District office, 225 W. Waco Drive, where vaccinations are available from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. The health district also will continue its clinics at community sites after the new year, with several scheduled next week at area schools.
McLennan County’s active COVID-19 case count and testing positivity rates have almost tripled in the past week as Christmas came and went, and health officials believe many more cases have not yet been documented.
The Waco-McLennan County Public Health District reported 316 new cases among McLennan County residents Tuesday, bringing total active cases to 1,219, up from 431 active cases Dec. 21. The county’s testing positivity rate, the percentage of lab-based COVID-19 tests that come back positive, hit 32% on Tuesday, up from 12% on Dec. 21.
Just a month ago, on Nov. 28, the county had 15 new cases, 112 active cases and a positivity rate of 5%.
A positivity rate as high as Tuesday’s 32% indicates there likely are not enough tests being conducted to give an accurate picture of how many active cases the county actually has. The rate has not been that high since December a year ago, said Stephanie Alvey, the health district’s emergency preparedness coordinator.
She said the health district expects the case count to continue increasing as more people get tested.
“We’re seeing a fraction of the actual number of cases,” Alvey said. “We do anticipate an increase, we just don’t know how much.”
On Tuesday, local hospitals were treating 49 COVID-19 patients, including 14 on ventilators and 37 McLennan County residents, up from 31 total a week ago, which included six on ventilators and 20 McLennan County residents. The health district also reported one new COVID-19 death Tuesday, bringing the county’s death toll to 738 residents.
Dr. Ben Wilson, assistant chief medical officer for Waco Family Medicine, said the organization’s local network of clinics saw a “dramatic uptick” in demand for COVID-19 tests, going from 125 tests a day last week to 230 tests in one day on Monday.
“Medical offices are closed over the holidays and so they have less access to testing,” Wilson said. “There’s a wave of demand for testing on Mondays as it is, but also, that curve is really going up.”
He said it is still too early to tell how many current local cases were caused by the omicron variant, but data from other countries spells out that booster shots make people much less vulnerable.
Alvey said the beginning stages of this wave played out differently compared to previous ones. Hospitalizations started increasing in early December, even as the number of cases remained relatively stable.
“It’s kind of a strange pattern,” she said.
Patients between the ages of 20 and 29 still make up the bulk of active cases since April 2021, but fatalities are still highest among people in their 60s, 70s and 80s. Alvey said older people who are vaccinated against the virus are still considered high risk for breakthrough cases.
Alvey said vaccinations, including booster shots, are the best way to avoid catching the virus, and she would recommend social distancing, or socializing in smaller groups if distancing is not possible.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 10,880 new confirmed cases and 68 more deaths statewide Tuesday.
The Texas Juvenile Justice Department announced Monday that 36 youth and 10 employees in McLennan County facilities had tested positive for the virus since Dec. 23. As of Tuesday, the department had 76 active cases associated with its facilities statewide, including 39 in youth and 37 in staff members.
In an update to the university Tuesday, Baylor University President Linda Livingstone wrote that students and employees should be prepared for the possibility of starting the spring semester, “on a remote/virtual/online basis for all classes, meetings and student activities until Tuesday, Feb. 1.” The semester is scheduled to start Jan. 18. Livingstone emphasized that no final decision has been made, and said a firmer decision is expected next week.
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