and last updated 2021-07-28 19:19:10-04
In Bell County, we are seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Since the beginning of July, the number of COVID-19 cases in Bell County has skyrocketed. Before July, we were seeing less than 10 to 20 new cases a day, and now weâre seeing over a hundred new cases come in each day,â said Nikki Morrow, Interim Director, Bell County Public Health District.
As cases rise fast so do the number of hospitalizations, and this time that trend is hitting soon-to-be moms at an alarming rate. We are seeing an increase in our hospitalized pregnant patients with COVID. It seems like this delta variant is hitting our pregnant moms harder than COVID has earlier in this pandemic,â said Dr. Jessica Ehrig, maternal medicine and maternal transport director at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Temple.
As educators throughout Texas prepare for the upcoming school year in a post-pandemic setting, administrators are devising plans to address learning losses spurred by remote instruction â losses that the Texas Education Agency said were clearly evident in studentsâ 2021 standardized testing results.
In late June, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath had revealed that in-person learnersâ 2021 testing results during the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exams this past spring were âappreciably higherâ than their peers enrolled under remote instruction.
TEA officials observed four key changes: the number of students not meeting grade level expectations increased from 2019, mathematics saw the sharpest decline in student proficiency, districts with higher percentages of virtual learners experienced greater declines and districts with higher percentages of in-person learners avoided most declines.
Temple Independent School District Superintendent Bobby Ott believes this yearâs standardized testing scores across Texas speak for itself.
On Monday, the Texas Education Agency revealed that in-person learnersâ 2021 standardized testing results were âappreciably higherâ than their peers enrolled under remote instruction â a notable consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath credited school districts, like Temple ISD, that prioritized the availability of in-person instruction.
âWhen students come into Texas public schools, they are well-served by Texas educators â a fact that these scores confirm,â he said in a news release. âBut it is also painfully clear that the pandemic had a very negative impact on learning.â