Taylor now has reached 167 deaths. The deceased are two men: one in his 70s with preexisting conditions and the other in his 60s with unknown medical predisposition, officials reported. The average age of all deceased is 77. The county has reported 50 COVID-19-linked deaths in December, compared to 41 in November and 16 in October. The 125 new cases are based on 65 polymerase chain reaction tests and 60 antigen tests. Active cases number 2,440 (943 PCR cases and 1,497 antigen cases), which is 177 fewer than the total of 2,617 reported a week ago on Dec. 9. COVID-19 inpatients at Abilene hospital declined by two to 100, compared to Tuesday's update of 102, city officials reported.