Fri., Mar. 6, 2020 – Waco, TX – The Waco-McLennan County Public Health District would like to keep our community updated on the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation. As of the time that this email was sent, the information being reported below is current however could change over the next few hours, or days until the next update.

PLEASE REVIEW THIS MESSAGE IN ITS ENTIRETY. A link to some guidance regarding planning and responding to a potential outbreak for businesses and employers is included at the bottom.

Main key Points:

The Waco-McLennan County Public Health Department (WMCPHD) has been closely monitoring the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) situation. Due to recent spread of the disease to other areas outside of China, we wanted to ensure you had some current information available at your fingertips. If you or someone else has had recent travel to any of the affected international locations in the past 14 days AND is/are exhibiting symptoms such as fever, cough, and/or shortness of breath OR has come in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19, please call 254-750-1890.

Risk:

Current Case Counts:

Disclaimer: *Note for case counts – We are reporting case counts from the CDC website. Due to increasing testing capacity at State and local labs around the country, the count may be lower than the numbers reported by media.

Worldwide Case Counts:
Total Confirmed: 97,885
Total recovered: 53,786
Total deaths: 3,348
US Case Counts: There are two buckets of classification of US cases being reported:
Travelers from affected areas + person to person spread Repatriation of US citizens (from cruise ships or affected areas)
30 travel related 3 from Wuhan, China
20 person to person spread 46 from Diamond Princess cruise
49 under investigation  
Totals: 99 Totals: 49
Total US Deaths: 11
Texas Case Counts:
Travel-Related: 3 Repatriated: 12
*It is important to note that 12 of these were all repatriated and remained in quarantine since entering the US. This means they have had zero contact with the general populace since returning to the U.S. with the exception of one who remains now in isolation. The likelihood of spread from these positive cases is highly unlikely. **The additional cases were detected in Ft. Bend County and Harris County, both classified in the travel related bucket and are currently isolated.
McLennan County Case Counts:
Total: 0

Protection Measures:

Individuals can prevent exposure to COVID-19 simply by following the same process that we use for influenza prevention:

Waco-McLennan County Public Health District Actions:

The Waco-McLennan County Public Health Districtis working closely with community partners, including healthcare organizations to respond to this public health threat.

The public health response is multi-layered, with the goal of detecting and minimizing introductions of this virus in McLennan County to reduce the spread and the impact of this virus.

Resources:

Here are some links that you will find beneficial:

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Global Cases Map

Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Contact:

Courtney Restivo Wollard, MPH, B.S.Ed

Public Health Planner

Public Health Emergency Preparedness

Waco-McLennan County Public Health District

254-750-5419 Office

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *