Update on Spread of Coronavirus – April 9
Caution Urged Despite Decline in Numbers
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
HOUSTON COUNTY – As the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine continues to gain traction, the numbers of newly reported cases are starting to show a downward trend across the nation. Even though it appears the health care industry has turned the corner on the disease, new variants of the virus are continually being found which indicate COVID-19 is – unfortunately – not going away any time soon.
Last week, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Dr. Rochelle Walensky – cautioned Americans not to let their guard down in the fight against COVID-19, warning of a potential fourth wave of the virus.
Closer to home, the Texas Department of Health Services (TxDSHS) reported another 96 fatalities in the State of Texas related to the virus on Thursday, April 8.
In addition, the TxDSHS indicated on April 8, there were 0 estimated, active cases in Houston County with approximately 1,580 people who have recovered. There have also been 50 reported deaths. Last week, there were 46 active cases and 49 deaths.
The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Houston County on April 17 of last year, when it was learned three individuals had tested positive for the virus.
Meanwhile, in Anderson County, it was announced on Thursday, April 8, the county had a total of 107 active cases. There have also been 3,101 recoveries and 79 reported deaths. Last week, there were 125 active cases and 77 deaths.
On Tuesday, March 31, 2020, it was reported Anderson County had its first confirmed case of the virus.
The number of active cases and fatalities per county – for those counties surrounding Houston and Anderson Counties – as of March 31 showed: Angelina – 166 active cases and 274 fatalities, last week there were 187 active cases with 270 fatalities; Cherokee – 0 active cases and 136 fatalities, last week there were no active cases with 135 fatalities; Freestone – 23 active cases and 49 fatalities, last week there were 25 active cases with 48 fatalities; Henderson – 128 active cases and 182 fatalities, last week there were 152 active cases with 178 fatalities; Leon – 24 active cases and 42 fatalities, last week there were 20 active cases with 42 fatalities; Madison – 18 active cases and 28 fatalities, last week there were 20 active cases with 28 fatalities; Trinity – 0 active cases and 24 fatalities, last week there were 51 active cases with 23 fatalities; and Walker – 62 active cases and 123 fatalities, last week there were 97 active cases with 123 fatalities.
The Messenger first started tracking the spread of the virus in the East Texas area on Wednesday, March 25 of last year. At that time, TxDSHS 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, 2020 – the only county with a confirmed case of the Coronavirus bordering Houston or Anderson County was Walker County.
By April 8, 2021, approximately 2.4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Texas while 48,109 Texans have suffered a COVID-19 related death. Furthermore, 254 out of 254 – or 100% of counties in the state of Texas – now have or have had at least one active case of COVID-19.
The April 8 update showed a total of 26,451,412 Coronavirus tests had been administered in Texas with 2,866 current hospitalizations, down from 3,097 last week. The TxDSHS also reported 2,673,787 recoveries.
Another metric touted by state officials has been the positivity rate. The positivity rate is found by dividing the number of new cases (previous 7 days) by the number of new test results (previous 7 days).
On April 8, the positivity rate was 5.66%, an increase from last week when the rate stood at 5.42%.
Moving to the national stage, 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 9, across the US there have been 31,023,288 confirmed cases of COVID-19 – an increase of 552,567 from a week ago.
The CSSE also reported there were 560,315 US residents who had suffered a COVID-19 related death as of April 9 – an increase of 7,980 deaths from a week ago.
Worldwide, on April 9, as of 11:20 am, there have been 134,200,330 (last week – 129,118,946) confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 2,906,785 (last week – 2,819,141) deaths attributed to the virus. The CDC, WHO and the CSSE are also reporting 76,213,991 (last week – 73,251,805) patients have recovered from the disease.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
