BELTON, TX — Healthcare leaders in Bell County are closely monitoring a slight uptick in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
The Bell County Public Health District says over the last several weeks the county's incidence rate stayed between 25 to 30 new cases per 100,000 population with last week's total was 154 active cases.
“The increase in cases is concerning, especially since some of the cases have been identified as the Delta variant, which is much more contagious and more likely to result in hospitalization and death in the unvaccinated population,” Dr. Janice Smith, Local Health Authority, said.
Officials noticed a few trends with new cases. The first is COVID-19 patients have gotten younger as most new positive cases belong to those between the ages of 20 to 40.
“Additionally, what I am hearing from our health care providers is that the vast majority of the positive tests belong to individuals who have not been vaccinated,” Bell County Judge David Blackburn said. “It is clear that increasing vaccinations is still our best strategy to navigate thru this pandemic and get to closure.”
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“We encourage everyone eligible for the vaccine to take this crucial step in protecting themselves and our community,” Motakef said, “by not getting vaccinated, we risk erasing much of the progress we have made to get life back to normal.”
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