Posted: Mon 11:50 AM, Jun 01, 2020
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Updated: Mon 6:14 PM, Jun 01, 2020
(KWTX) Twenty seven COVID-19 cases have been confirmed at a Temple nursing home one of whose residents, a woman in her 90s, has become the fourth person to die of the virus in Bell County, raising the county’s case total to 378, the count for Central Texas to 974 and the region’s death toll to 16.
Eighteen residents and nine staff members at Weston Inn Nursing and Rehabilitation at 2505 South 37th St. in Temple have now tested positive for the virus, the facility’s operators said in a press release.
Residents who tested positive have been hospitalized and one is in intensive care, Bell County health officials said during a virtual news conference late Monday afternoon.
The staff members are self-isolating at home.
“We are monitoring everyone extremely closely and following our pre-established protocols that include implementing immediate and precautionary steps to ensure we stop the spread of the infection within our community,” the facility’s operators said.
All residents and staff members were initially tested for the virus after a positive case was identified on May 16 and the results were all negative.
But on Friday a new case surfaced, and the operators contacted the Bell County Public Health District to arrange for another round of testing, health district Director Amanda Robison-Chadwell said.
On Saturday the facility’s operators said two residents and three staff members had tested positive for the virus and that the affected employees were self-isolating at home.
But later on Saturday, Robison-Chadwell said in a statement that one resident had died and that four others were taken to the hospital and tested positive.
“Of the five cases, all individuals are high-risk due to age and health conditions,” she said.
The reason for the discrepancy between the facility’s statement and the health district’s statement wasn’t immediately explained.
Testing of all residents and staff was completed over the weekend.
The virus has now claimed 16 lives in Central Texas including four in Bell County, two in Coryell County, one in Hamilton County, one in Hill County, one in Limestone County, four in McLennan County, one in Milam County, and two in Navarro County.
Statewide the virus has claimed 1,678 lives, according to figures released Monday.
A total of 64,880 cases of the virus have been confirmed in Texas, 43,338 patients have recovered and 19,864 cases are active, the state reported.
More than 970,000 tests have been administered and the virus is now present in 231 of the state’s 254 counties.
The Department of State Health Services reported 378 cases Monday in Bell County while the county’s report showed 367 cases with at least 206 recoveries.
Bell County’s total includes an employee of Wings Pizza N Things in Temple Towne Center at 2112 SW H K Dodgen Loop.
“The employee in question worked for very part time last week and had minimal contact with customers,” the restaurant said in a press release Monday.
“We have been closed for the appropriate amount of time as required by the Bell County Health Department. We went above and beyond the guidelines given to us and we are using state of the art disinfecting systems to ensure everyone’s safety.”
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases that Bell County reports at the local level does not include people who live on post at Fort Hood. The number of confirmed cases in Bell County that the Texas Department of State Health Services reports does include Fort Hood cases. Cases involving Fort Hood personnel who live off post are included in the numbers the county releases.
The virus earlier claimed three lives in Bell County including a Killeen man in his 50s in ICU died who died on April 8, a Temple man in his 60s in intensive care who died on April 6 who died on April 6, and a Temple woman in her 80s who had been diagnosed with the virus died on March 26.
In McLennan County, two new cases were reported Monday, raising the county’s total to 120.
Ten cases were active Monday, 106 patients have recovered, and 69 residents were being monitored.
The latest cases involve a resident whose age ranges from 20 to 29 and a resident whose age ranges from 50 to 59.
Four have died including a 66-year-old resident whose death was announced on April 22 and a 61-year old McLennan County man whom a neighbor found dead on April 8.
G.W. Carver Middle School Principal Phillip Perry, died of complications from the virus on March 31 and a 69-year-old man died on April 9 at a local hospital.
The state reported 282 cases Monday in Coryell County, but the county’s latest update shows 225 cases including at least 157 state prison inmates who’ve been diagnosed with the virus.
Thirty four of the cases are active and 32 patients have recovered.
Several prison units in Gatesville remain locked down because of the virus, which has claimed the lives of a Copperas Cove man in his 70s who died on April 9 at Advent Hospital in Killeen, to which he was admitted on April 2 and a Copperas Cove man in his 60s who was diagnosed with the virus on April 5.
Twenty four cases are confirmed in Limestone County, which has recorded one death.
A Mexia woman in her late 50s to early 60s with underlying health conditions died on March 31 at Parkview Regional Hospital in Mexia after she was diagnosed with COVID-19.
Eleven patients in Limestone County have recovered and five other cases are active.
Bosque County was reporting seven cases Monday including two who have recovered; Falls County had seven cases with three recoveries; Freestone County reported 10 cases with five recoveries; Hamilton County reported eight with one death and five recoveries; Hill County reported 24, with one death and 14 recoveries; Lampasas County had nine cases with six recoveries; Leon County reported 10 with four recoveries; Milam County reported 28 with one death and 26 recoveries; Mills County had one case and the patient has recovered; Navarro County reported 57 cases with two deaths and 44 recoveries; Robertson County had nine cases with four recoveries; and San Saba County had one case.
