Update on Spread of Coronavirus

Houston County Reports 23 Cases, Anderson County Has 41

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

HOUSTON COUNTY – On Friday, April 17, it was reported Houston County had three confirmed cases of COVID-19. On April 22, the number of positive cases in Houston County was updated to six. As of Friday, May 1 at 12:30 pm, the number had moved to nine. By May 11, the number stood at 23. 

Meanwhile, in Anderson County the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 had increased from 14 on Tuesday, April 21 to 19 on Saturday, April 25 and by May 1, the number stood at 30. A week later, the number stood at 41 with nine recovered. 

Also on May 1, the number of cases per county – for those counties surrounding Houston and Anderson Counties – were:  Angelina – 54; Cherokee – 16; Freestone – 5; Henderson – 25; Leon – 6; Madison – 1; Trinity – 8; and Walker – 269.

One week later on May 8, the number of cases per county showed: Angelina – 100; Cherokee – 18; Freestone – 7; Henderson – 36; Leon – 9; Madison – 3; Trinity – 11; and Walker – 332.

The Messenger first started tracking the spread of the virus in the East Texas area on Wednesday, March 25. At that time, the TxDSHS 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 that Wednesday, the TxDSHS indicated 82 out of 254 counties in the state of Texas had at least one confirmed case of COVID-19.

Of those counties – as of March 25 – the only county with a confirmed case of the Coronavirus bordering Houston or Anderson County was Walker County. 

Anderson County Judge Robert Johnston announced on Tuesday, March 31 that Anderson County had its first confirmed case of the virus. 

By Friday, April 3, 55,764 tests had been administered in Texas. Of those tests, 5,330 tested positive. The TxDSHS also reported 90 deaths attributed to the Coronavirus. Furthermore, nearly 58 percent of all counties had at least one reported case.

On Thursday, April 9, the TxDSHS indicated 106,134 tests had been administered which resulted in 10,230 people testing positive for COVID-19. Of those who tested positive, 1,439 people had been hospitalized.

The April 9 update also reported 12 more people had perished, bringing the total to 199. Also, the TxDSHS reported 170 counties with at least one case of the Coronavirus, or approximately 67 percent of all 254 Texas counties. 

The numbers have continued to grow and by Friday, April 17 at 11:45 am, 169,536 tests had been administered with 17,371 individuals testing positive for the Coronavirus. Of those who tested positive, the TxDSHS reports 1,522 people have been hospitalized.

The April 17 update also showed deaths associated with the virus had more than doubled over the week going from 199 to 428.

The updated case count on Friday, April 24 showed the virus continuing to spread across Texas. The TxDSHS website indicated 242,547 tests had been administered with 22,806 people testing positive for the virus. Of those who tested positive, 1,674 people had been hospitalized. 

The April 24 update showed the number of counties with at least one case has gone from 192 to 204 counties or approximately 80 percent of all 254 Texas counties. 

In addition, the April 24 update reported the number of people who have perished because of the Coronavirus had risen from 428 to 593.

The May 1 update indicated the spread of the virus was not slowing down. The TxDSHS update for Friday, May 1 was released at 12 pm and reported 351,775 tests had been administered with 29,229 people testing positive for the virus. Of those who tested positive, 1,778 people had been hospitalized.

Since last week, the number of counties with at least one case has gone from 204 to 210 counties or approximately 83 percent of all 254 Texas counties. 

Furthermore, the May 1 update reported the number of people who have perished because of the Coronavirus had risen from 593 on April 24 to 816 by that Friday.   

On May 1, Gov. Gregg Abbott began to open the state of Texas back up. Unfortunately, the spread of the virus does not appear to have slowed down.

The May 8 update reported 477,118 COVID-19 tests had been given. Of those who had been tested, 36,609 were reported as positive for the virus with 1,734 currently hospitalized. In addition, the TxDSHS reports 19,197 recoveries. 

It should be noted the estimated population of Texas is 30 million. The 477,118 tests given reflects a testing rate of just over 1.5 percent.

Since last week, the number of counties with at least one case has gone from 210 to 219 counties or approximately 86 percent of all 254 Texas counties.     

The May 8 update further reported the number of people who have perished because of the Coronavirus had risen from 816 on May 1 to 1,004 by this Friday.      

As you can see, the COVID-19 disease is spreading at an alarming rate in Texas. From Wednesday, March 25 until Friday, May 8 – the number of confirmed cases has jumped from 974 to 36,609 – an increase of 35,635 cases. From Wednesday, March 25 through Friday, May 8, deaths attributed to COVID-19 have risen from 12 to 1,004.

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 17, across the US there were 699,105 cases of COVID-19 up from 432,596 on April 9.

A week later, the numbers had risen to 884,004 cases of COVID-19, up 184,899 from the 699,105 the week before. By May 1, the number of cases of COVID-19 in the US had eclipsed the one million mark and stood at 1,114,365 – an increase of 260,361 cases from the previous week. This week, the number of confirmed US cases is now 1,307,663 – up 193,298   

On April 9, the number of Coronavirus related deaths in the US stood at 14,831. By Friday, April 17, the death toll stood at 36,773 deaths. A week later, the number of dead had increased to 51,107. The updated numbers on May 1 showed 64,655 have died as a result of the virus – an increase of 13,548 in the span of seven days. The May 8 numbers showed 77,523 have now died because of COVID-19.  

The organizations also reported 172,872 patients have recovered.

Worldwide, on May 8 as of 12:17 pm, there were 3,983,297 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 274,243 deaths attributed to the virus. The CDC, WHO and the CSSE are also reporting 1,325,360 patients have recovered from the disease. 

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].