McLennan County is outpacing other Central Texas counties in the rate of COVID-19 cases per capita.
25 News talked with Dr. Brenda Gray, the director of the Waco/McLennan County Public Health District to get her take on the trend.
"We are grappling with the data right now. Just as of last week, we hit our rate per capita in comparison to three other counties," said Dr. Gray, "We can't project what will happen here."
But what Dr. Gray knows is the most recent numbers show the rate per capita (100,000 people in the population) in Waco/McLennan County of coronavirus cases is higher than other Central Texas counties.
"That's a dire message for us as McLennan County residents," said Dr. Gray.
Dr. Gray says everyone can follow the guidelines to help flatten the curve.
"We've taken the appropriate steps here. Mitigation and containment efforts and the order to shelter-in-place to help flatten the curve. Our county has taken the lead to keep our citizens safe and healthy," said Dr. Gray.
To calculate the rate per capita, you divide the total number of cases by the county's population and multiply that number by 100,000.
As of April 1, the McLennan County rate per capita is 19.2%. That's higher than every Central Texas county except in the Brazos Valley. Brazos County is currently at 28.37% of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people.
More rates include Bell County 13.25 %, Milam County 7.98%, Leon County 5.88%, Robertson County 5.81%, Falls County 5.73%, Hill County 5.57%, Limestone County 3.19% and Coryell County 1.35%.
