Coronavirus Continues to Spread
Practice Social Distancing
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
HOUSTON COUNTY – As of Friday, April 3, there were no reported cases of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in Houston or Madison Counties. All other contiguous counties to Houston County had reported at least one confirmed case, with Trinity County becoming the latest. So far, in Houston County, we’ve been very lucky. Unfortunately, our luck may be about to head south.
On Wednesday, March 25 the Texas Department of Health and Human Services (TDHHS) reported there were 13,325 COVID-19 tests which had been administered. The TDHHS further reported 974 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus Disease and 12 deaths in the Lone Star State.
Also on Wednesday, the TDHHS indicated 82 out of 254 counties in the state of Texas had at least one confirmed case of COVID-19.
Of these counties – as of March 25 – the only county with a confirmed case of the Coronavirus bordering Houston or Anderson County was Walker County.
Less than 24 hours later, the TDHHS reported there were 1,396 cases and 18 deceased. The Thursday update from the TDHHS also indicated there were 92 counties with a reported case of COVID-19. Among the 10 new counties were Angelina and Nacogdoches Counties.
On Friday, March 27, the TDHHS updated the figures to show there had been 23,666 COVID-19 tests administered. Of those tests, 1,731 cases have been confirmed as positive for the virus. The TDHHS update further indicated the Coronavirus has caused 23 deaths in the state of Texas.
Of the 254 Texas counties, on Friday, the TDHHS also reported 105 now have at least one confirmed case of COVID-19. Listed among the 13 new counties was Cherokee County, which borders both Houston and Anderson Counties.
By Sunday, March 29, the TDHHS reported 25,843 tests had been given. Of those tests, 2,552 had been confirmed as positive. The TDDHS also reported a total of 34 deaths. Furthermore, the TDHHS reported the number of counties with at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 was 118, as of Sunday.
Anderson County Judge Robert Johnston announced on Tuesday, March 31 that Anderson County had its first confirmed case of the virus.
On Thursday, April 2, the TDDHS reported 50,679 COVID-19 tests had been administered. The results showed there were 4,669 cases in Texas, with 70 people reported dead. In addition, 143 of the 254 – or 56 percent – counties in Texas had at least one confirmed case of the Coronavirus.
By Friday, April 3, 55,764 tests had been administered in Texas. Of those tests, 5,330 tested positive. The TDHHS also reported 90 deaths attributed to the Coronavirus. Furthermore, nearly 58 percent of all counties had at least one reported case.
As you can see, the COVID-19 disease is spreading at an alarming rate in Texas. Since Wednesday, March 25, the number of confirmed cases has jumped from 974 to 5,330 – an increase of 4,356 cases. From Sunday, March 29 through Friday April 3, deaths attributed to COVID-19 have risen from 34 to 90.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE), as of April 3 at 3 am, across the US there were 245,573 cases of COVID-19 with 6,058 deaths. The organizations also reported 9,228 patients have recovered.
Worldwide, there were 1,016,534 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 53,164 deaths attributed to the virus. The CDC, WHO and the CSSE are also reporting 211,856 patients have recovered from the disease.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
