Coronavirus: 14th Death Reported In WilCo, 3 New Cases

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — Health officials on Monday reported a 14th person has died of new coronavirus in Williamson County in the past 24 hours. The illness count grew by three in the same time period, reaching 380.

The victim succumbing to the respiratory illness was described as a woman in her 90s. Patient privacy provision preclude officials from releasing further details that could yield identifiers.

“We begin this week with tragic news on the fourteenth COVID-19 related death in our county," Williamson County Bill Gravell said in a prepared statement upon hearing the news. "I want to remind our residents, this is not just a number, this was someone’s loved one and friend, and their life being taken by this disease will not go unnoticed. It is for each of the people who have died at the hands of the virus that we continue our fight to reduce the spread of COVID-19, and abide by health measures to keep others around us safe."

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According to a statistical dashboard that is updated daily by Williamson County County and Cities Health District officials, a dozen patients remain hospitalized for the respiratory illness and four are on ventilators. Amid those grim statistics, health officials noted 217 have recovered from the illness after contracting the virus.

The latest death follows a handful of other fatalities reported in recent days. Two men in their 90s were felled by the illness last week, preceded by the death of a woman in her 40s who died of the illness. A little over one month later after that woman's death, the county would reach a grim milestone in crossing the 300 mark in the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus and the ninth reported fatality — a woman in her 90s. On May 5, another patient — a man in his 50s — became the 11th to die.

The string of elderly victims comes in the wake of a recent disclosure that health officials had detected an illness outbreak at an area nursing home that was not identified where 46 people were positively diagnosed with new coronavirus. The illness cluster was disclosed on April 25, although it's unclear if the recent fatalities among the elderly were related to that incident.

The illness counts for other Williamson County cities include:

• Cedar Park: 23 cases, changed from the total of 24 reported on Sunday.
• Georgetown: 28 cases, up 1 from the count on Sunday.
• Hutto: 19 cases, unchanged.
• Leander: 24 recovered cases, unchanged from the previous day.
• Other cities: 17 cases, unchanged.

For information on the latest COVID-19 cases count in Williamson County, visit the Williamson County and Cities Health District (WCCHD) dashboard located at www.wcchd.org/COVID-19/dashboard.php. Residents seeking to be apprised of the illness count also can visit the health district's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WCCHD/ for updates.

Related stories:

• Coronavirus: 13th Death Reported In WilCo, 368 Cases To Date
• Coronavirus: 12th Death Reported In WilCo, 8 More Cases
• Coronavirus: WilCo Illness Count Grows By 9 To 377
• 11th Coronavirus Death Reported In Williamson County
• Coronavirus: WilCo Illness Count Grows To 361
• Coronavirus: Nursing Home Illness Cluster Found In WilCo
• WilCo Officials Calm New Coronavirus Fears
• 8 Coronavirus Cases Now Confirmed In Williamson County
• WilCo Judge Under Fire For Violating Own Stay-At-Home Order
• Coronavirus: Wilco Illness Count Passes 300, 9th Death Reported
• Coronavirus: WilCo Illness Count Grows To 306, 1 More Death
• Texas Governor Allows Malls, Restaurants, More To Open By May 1
• Coronavirus: Abbott To Let More Businesses Reopen Friday

As always, health officials urge those with respiratory illness — including cough, fever and shortness of breath — to contact their health care providers. However, health officials stress the importance of calling ahead before arriving at a clinic, urgent care or emergency department to avoid potential spread of illness.

For information on the county response to COVID-19, go to www.wilco.org/COVID-19.