Update on Spread of Coronavirus – May 7
Slight Uptick in Area 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.
While headway in the battle against the Coronavirus is being made, 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 57 fatalities in the State of Texas related to the virus on Thursday, May 6.
In addition, the TxDSHS indicated on May 6, there were 17 estimated, active cases in Houston County with approximately 1,566 people who have recovered. There have also been 52 reported deaths. Last week, there were 25 active cases and 52 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, May 6, the county had a total of 197 active cases. There have also been 3,163 recoveries and 80 reported deaths. Last week, there were 134 active cases and 80 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 May 6 showed: Angelina – 165 active cases and 279 fatalities, last week there were 192 active cases with 279 fatalities; Cherokee – 28 active cases and 140 fatalities, last week there were 16 active cases with 138 fatalities; Freestone – 51 active cases and 50 fatalities, last week there were 41 active cases with 49 fatalities; Henderson – 174 active cases and 185 fatalities, last week there were 156 active cases with 184 fatalities; Leon – 18 active cases and 43 fatalities, last week there were also 20 active cases with 43 fatalities; Madison – 24 active cases and 29 fatalities, last week there were 18 active cases with 29 fatalities; Trinity – 17 active cases and 26 fatalities, last week there were 18 active cases with 25 fatalities; and Walker – 39 active cases and 126 fatalities, last week there were 59 active cases with 125 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 May 6, 2021, approximately 2.48 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Texas while 49,474 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 May 6 update showed a total of 28,696,123 Coronavirus tests have been administered in Texas with 2,565 current hospitalizations, down from 2,745 last week. The TxDSHS also reported 2,759,083 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 May 6, the positivity rate was 4.68%, a decrease from last week when the rate stood at 5.4%.
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 May 7, across the US there have been 32,609,558 confirmed cases of COVID-19 – an increase of 313,205 from a week ago.
The CSSE also reported there were 580,120 US residents who had suffered a COVID-19 related death as of May 7 – an increase of 4,850 deaths from a week ago.
Worldwide, on May 7, as of 10:21 am, there have been 156,206,914 (last week – 150,673,998) confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 3,258,908 (last week – 3,169,019) deaths attributed to the virus. The CDC, WHO and the CSSE are also reporting 92,420,354 (last week – 87,715,095) patients have recovered from the disease.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
