COVID-19 cases now consume almost one-fifth of
`Waco-area hospital capacity
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`wacotrib.com/news/local/covid-19-cases-now-consume-almost-one-fifth-of-waco-area-hospital-
`capacity/article_ecd6bd1a-3439-11eb-96bf-5b2ac0e9563b.html
`
`December 1, 2020
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`Free COVID-19 testing will continue Wednesday at McLennan Community College, shown in this
`Monday photo. Walk-up tests are also available at La Vega ISD’s football stadium.
`Rod Aydelotte, Tribune-Herald file photo
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`JB Smith
`COVID-19 patients accounted for almost a fifth of hospital capacity Tuesday in the area
`anchored by McLennan County, as local health officials brace for a post-Thanksgiving
`surge in cases.
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`The five-county Trauma Service Area M, which also includes Bosque, Hill, Limestone and
`Falls counties, saw COVID-19 hospitalizations grow from 18.4% of capacity Monday to
`19.4% Tuesday.
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`The area surpassed the state’s threshold of 15% for the seventh consecutive day Sunday,
`forcing a shutdown of bars and capacity restrictions on restaurants and stores as well as a
`hold on elective medical procedures.
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`The rate has only increased since then and become fifth-highest among the 22 trauma
`service areas in Texas, surpassed only by regions in the Panhandle, the Rio Grande Valley
`and El Paso area.
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`McLennan County hospitals had 98 COVID-19 patients as of Tuesday, three fewer than
`Monday, suggesting hospitalizations increased in surrounding counties.
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`The McLennan County numbers include 22 COVID-19 patients on ventilators. All 54
`available intensive care unit beds were in use, though hospitals have said they are able to
`add more temporary ICU beds.
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`The Waco-McLennan County Public Health District reported the 198th COVID-19-related
`death of a McLennan County resident Tuesday, that of a 70-year-old man.
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`“The concern is what’s going to happen moving forward,” health district spokesperson
`Kelly Craine said. “We’re seeing such high numbers on a daily basis, how much growth
`are we going to see as we move into December and Christmas?
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`“Everyone is looking at El Paso and Amarillo and wondering, who’s next?”
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`The health district reported new 121 cases Tuesday after several days of double-digit
`numbers that reflected low testing rates over the long Thanksgiving weekend. Free public
`testing resumed Monday and Tuesday with long lines reported at testing sites, but results
`from those tests have not yet been reflected in the daily county numbers.
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`The free tests continue with a drive-thru clinic from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday at
`McLennan Community College’s Parking Lot N at 4601 N. 19th St.; and a walk-up clinic
`from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at La Vega ISD’s Willie Williams Stadium, 555 North Loop 340.
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`The Waco area is not alone in seeing a surge of hospitalizations. Statewide, the
`hospitalization rate has inched up from 13% of capacity on Nov. 25 to 14% Tuesday.
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`Trauma service areas in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, parts of East Texas and mid-West
`Texas have exceeded the 15% threshold in recent days, according to the Department of
`State Health Service’s data dashboard at https://www.dshs.state.tx.us/coronavirus.
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`Areas with lower rates include the Austin and San Antonio areas and Trauma Service Area
`L, which includes Bell County. That area has 1,197 staffed hospital beds, compared to 572
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`in the McLennan County region.
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`0 comments
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`JB Smith
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`Managing editor
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`J.B. Smith is the the Tribune-Herald managing editor. A native of Sulphur Springs, he
`attended Southwestern University and joined the Tribune-Herald in 1997. He and his
`wife, Bethany, live in Waco and have two children.
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