96 new COVID-19 cases reported in Crossroads region Tuesday

The Victoria County Public Health Department also reported two new deaths of county residents from complications of COVID-19. A woman in her 50s and a man in his 70s, both county residents, died from the disease, according to the health department. These recent deaths bring the county’s toll to 120 residents who have died from the respiratory disease.

The state health department uses a different method to track COVID-19 deaths by county and has reported 134 county residents who have died. When a Victoria County resident dies from COVID-19 outside of the county or outside of a health care facility, the county health department doesn’t always receive a notification of that death. The state health department, however, receives all death certificates filed in the state within 10 days of a person’s death.

Tuesday, 146 COVID-19 patients occupied almost 23% of 636 staffed hospital beds in Victoria’s trauma service area, according to the state health department.

There were 253 empty hospital beds and 13 empty beds in intensive care units, according to state data.

The Victoria school district reported 14 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday.

The cases include seven staffers and seven students, according to a district release. The staffers work at Schorlemmer, Chandler, Smith, Aloe and Shields Elementary schools as well as Victoria West High School. The students attend Hopkins Elementary School, Patti Welder Middle School, Schorlemmer Elementary School, Victoria East High School and Victoria West High School.

Those who contracted the virus were last on campus sometime from Jan. 11 through Tuesday, according to the releases.

Anyone who came in contact with any of the staffers or students will need to isolate for up to 10 days.

Since reopening campuses in September, the district has reported 160 cases. Of those, 90 are among students, and 70 are among staffers.

There was one inmate and one staff member at the Victoria County Jail diagnosed with COVID-19 as of Tuesday, according to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. At the Jackson County Jail, there were 16 inmates and 11 staff members who had tested positive for the virus, according to the commission. In Refugio County, two inmates had tested positive for COVID-19.

About the data: On Jan. 13 the Advocate shifted to using only COVID-19 data from the Texas Department of State Health Services and Victoria County Public Health Department to provide case daily updates on the spread of the coronavirus in the region. The state compiles case data from local health departments and DSHS health regions, and pulls COVID-19 fatality data directly from official death certificates.These numbers are preliminary and therefore subject to change. State data may differ from data reported by local and regional health authorities because of delays in reporting or discrepancies. We will continue to update the numbers in real time and report changes as they arise.

For any questions about COVID-19 data, please reach out to the newsroom by sending an email to deliverydesk@vicad.com.