The Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District reported Friday 222 new cases of COVID-19 and 16 recoveries as of Thursday.
Of the 222 new cases, 63 were confirmed via polymerase chain reaction tests.
Active cases total 1,828 (485 PCR cases and 1,343 cases based on antigen tests). A week ago, active cases numbered 918.
The percentage of COVID-19 inpatients in the 16-county Abilene trauma service area was 9.14% of total capacity Thursday, compared to 8.05% Wednesday and 7.93% Tuesday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services COVID-19 database.
The Abilene trauma service area Friday had 84 COVID-19 inpatients, 12 more than reported Thursday. In the previous 24 hours, there were 17 COVID-19 admissions in the area, according to the state database.
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Coronavirus by the numbers
Abilene/Taylor County (Thursday data updated Friday): New cases, 222; PCR cases, 10,381; active PCR cases, 485; total antigen probable cases, 15,276; total active antigen cases, 1,343; total PCR recoveries, 9,692; total antigen recoveries, 13,561; Total deaths, 576.
Texas (updated Friday): Total cases, 4,098,354; New cases, 44,857; Active cases (estimated), 485,315; Hospitalized, 9,216; Fatalities, 75,128; New fatalities, 114; Total tests, 52,122,059; Recovered (estimated), 4,370,866.
Big Country estimated active cases (as tracked by the state): Erath, 367; Scurry, 295; Brown, 283; Howard, 183; Callahan, 158; Jones, 123; Eastland, 100; Comanche, 83; Stephens, 71; Runnels, 68; Coke, 46; Coleman, 42; Nolan, 35; Mitchell, 30; Haskell, 20; Shackelford, 17; Kent, 16; Knox, 16; Throckmorton, 16; Fisher, 11; and Stonewall, 7.
Select West Texas counties estimated active cases: Lubbock, 6,036; Tom Green (San Angelo), 2,099; Ector (Odessa), 1,957; Midland, 1,441; Wichita (Wichita Falls), 1,287; Potter (Amarillo), 1,194; Randall (Canyon), 1,019; Hale (Plainview), 348; and Moore, 148.
Sources: City of Abilene, Texas Department of State Health Services (counts PCR cases only) San Angelo Standard-Times
SELECT PRISONS (Thursday update)
Daniel (Snyder): Staff cases – active, 5; Inmate cases – active, 0, medical isolation, 1.
Havins (Brownwood): Staff cases – active, 0; Inmate cases – active, 0, medical isolation, 0.
Middleton (Abilene): Staff cases – active, 21; Inmate cases – active, 7, medical isolation, 7.
Robertson (Abilene): Staff cases – active, 13; Inmate cases – active, 2, medical isolation, 2.
Sayle (Breckenridge): Staff cases – active, 10; Inmate cases – active, 1; medical isolation, 2.
Wallace (Colorado City): Staff cases – active, 6; Inmate cases – active, 6, medical isolation, 8.
Source: Texas Department of Criminal Justice COVID-19 website.
Abilene ISD: Reported Friday 57 new cases (41 students, 16 staff members). New cases by campus: 12 students at Cooper High, 11 students at Abilene High, three students at Woodson, one student at ATEMS, one student and three staff members at Craig Middle, four students at Austin Elementary, two students at Taylor Elementary, two students and one staff member at Thomas Elementary, one student at Bassetti Elementary, one student and one staff member at Dyess Elementary, one student and one staff member at Martinez Elementary, one student at Ortiz Elementary, one student and four staff members at Long Elementary, two staff members at Ward Elementary, one staff member in transportation and three staff members in maintenance.
Active cases total 210 (134 students, 76 staff members), which is higher than Thursday’s report of 160. Since Aug. 3, the district has reported 1,571 cases (1,223 students, 348 staff members).
Wylie ISD: Reported Thursday six new student cases, with 25 active cases, compared to 22 active cases Wednesday.
Active cases (18 students, seven staff members) by campus: two students at East Junior High, one student and one staff member at West Early Childhood, six students and two staff members at Wylie High, one student and two staff members at West Elementary and eight students and two staff members at West Junior High.
More: COVID-19: Taylor County medical director says Thursday spike ‘obviously has hit’ locally
Laura Gutschke is a general assignment reporter and food columnist and manages online content for the Reporter-News. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.