Update on Spread of Coronavirus – May 22
Houston County Reports 32 Active Cases, Anderson County Has 52
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 22, the number stood at 35, not including 10 cases at the Eastham Prison Unit. County officials had also listed three recoveries as of Friday.
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. Three weeks later, the number stood at 64 with 12 recovered for a total of 52 active cases.
The number of cases per county – for those counties surrounding Houston and Anderson Counties – as of May 1 were: Angelina – 54; Cherokee – 16; Freestone – 5; Henderson – 25; Leon – 6; Madison – 1; Trinity – 8; and Walker – 269.
On May 21, the number of cases per county showed: Angelina – 168; Cherokee – 44; Freestone – 7; Henderson – 51; Leon – 9; Madison – 8; Trinity – 11; and Walker – 430.
The Messenger first started tracking the spread of the virus in the East Texas area on Wednesday, March 25. At that time, the Texas Department of State Health Services (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.
After issuing a stay-at-home executive order on April 2, less than a month later – 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 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.
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.
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.
Between May 1 and May 8, 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 last Friday.
The numbers have continued to climb and on Saturday, May 16, the state of Texas reported the single-day largest spike of new cases (1,801) reported while May 14 had the highest number of deaths (58) due to COVID-19.
The May 21 update reported 800,422 COVID-19 tests had been given. Of those who had been tested, 52,268 were reported as positive for the virus with 1,578 currently hospitalized. In addition, the TxDSHS reported 31,223 recoveries.
As you can see, the COVID-19 disease is still spreading at an alarming rate in Texas. From Wednesday, March 25 until Thursday, May 21 – the number of confirmed cases has jumped from 974 to 52,268 – an increase of 51,294 cases. In addition from Wednesday, March 25 through Friday, May 15, deaths attributed to COVID-19 have risen from 12 to 1,440.
Since May 1, when the governor began reopening the state, until May 22, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has risen from 29,229 to 52,268 or an increase of approximately 56 percent. The number of Texans who suffered COVID-19 related deaths since May 1 has gone from 816 to 1,440 on May 21, an increase of approximately 57 percent
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. On May 8, the number of confirmed US cases was 1,307,663 – up 193,298. By May 21, the number of confirmed cases stood at 1,612,921– up 144,144 from the previous week.
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. On May 21, the death toll stood at 95,110.
The organizations also reported 297,310 patients have recovered.
Worldwide, on May 22 as of 9:18 am, there were 5,231,667 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 334,639 deaths attributed to the virus. The CDC, WHO and the CSSE are also reporting 2,031,725 patients have recovered from the disease.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
