Update on Spread of Coronavirus – May 21
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.
Last week, in fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its guidelines in the fight against the virus earlier this week.
According to the CDC, “If you are fully vaccinated, you can resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic. Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.”
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.
On the local front, the Texas Department of State Health Services (TxDSHS) reported another 52 COVID-19 related fatalities in the Lone Star State on Thursday, May 20.
In addition, the TxDSHS indicated on May 20, there were 21 estimated, active cases in Houston County with approximately 1,585 people who have recovered. There have also been 54 reported deaths. Last week, there were 13 active cases and 53 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 20, the county had a total of 208 active cases. There have also been 3,224 recoveries and 82 reported deaths. Last week, there were 193 active cases and 81 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 13 showed: Angelina – 82 active cases and 280 fatalities, last week there were 141 active cases with 280 fatalities; Cherokee – 24 active cases and 140 fatalities, last week there were 19 active cases with 140 fatalities; Freestone – 62 active cases and 50 fatalities, last week there were 61 active cases with 50 fatalities; Henderson – 204 active cases and 189 fatalities, last week there were 180 active cases with 188 fatalities; Leon – 13 active cases and 43 fatalities, last week there were also 16 active cases with 43 fatalities; Madison – 14 active cases and 29 fatalities, last week there were 16 active cases with 29 fatalities; Trinity – 17 active cases and 26 fatalities, last week there were 16 active cases with 26 fatalities; and Walker – 1 active case and 129 fatalities, last week there were 0 active cases with 126 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 20, 2021, approximately 2.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Texas while 50,051 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 20 update showed a total of 29,658,508 Coronavirus tests had been administered in Texas with 2,103 current hospitalizations, down from 2,353 last week. The TxDSHS also reported 2,797,631 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 20, the positivity rate was 3.69%, a decrease from last week when the rate stood at 4.27%.
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 21, across the US there have been 33,069,942 confirmed cases of COVID-19 – an increase of 209,589 from a week ago.
The CSSE also reported there were 588,859 US residents who had suffered a COVID-19 related death as of May 21 – an increase of 4,289 deaths from a week ago.
Worldwide, on May 21, as of 1:21 pm, there have been 165,694,421 (last week – 161,310,781) confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 3,433,811 (last week – 3,347,409) deaths attributed to the virus. The CDC, WHO and the CSSE are also reporting 1,597,595,733 individuals have been vaccinated.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
