Erath County officials reported 74 new cases of COVID-19 in the report from Monday night (Dec. 21). Twenty-eight of these new positive cases were from within the city limits of Stephenville, one was from Dublin and 45 were rural residents of the county.
Total deaths since March were reported at 27 by the Department of State Health Services.
Total COVID-19 cases increased by 192 (2,009 to 2,201) in the week from the Dec. 14 update to Monday night’s report, while active cases decreased from 423 to 348.
Recovered cases were reported at 1,826 on Monday, up from 1,561 from the week before.
Hospitalizations since March rose from 90 to 96 in the past week.
Erath County and other counties in Trauma Service Area E remain under the stricter guidelines as of Tuesday, due to the hospitalization remaining above 15%.
According to the Governor’s Executive Order 32 (GA-32), tighter restrictions are required in any TSA that is over 15% for seven days.
These restrictions include:
■ 50% maximum occupancy in restaurants, stores, office buildings, manufacturing facilities, gyms and exercise facilities and classes, museums and libraries
■ discontinuing elective surgeries
■ closing bars and similar establishments
Hospitalization in TSA E stood at 19.71% on monday night.
Daily updates for Erath can be found at: https:// co.erath.tx.us/ DocumentCenter/ View/1331/COVID-19- Erath-Co-Daily-... or on the County Website home page scroll down and click on the “Daily COVID-19 Report.”
—Citizen staff report