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Update on Spread of Coronavirus – May 28

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 showing a downward trend across the nation.

Two weeks ago, 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 49 COVID-19 related fatalities in the Lone Star State on Thursday, May 27.

In addition, the TxDSHS indicated on May 27, there were 23 estimated, active cases in Houston County with approximately 1,597 people who have recovered. There have also been 55 reported deaths. Last week, there were 21 active cases and 54 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 27, the county had a total of 183 active cases. There have also been 3,265 recoveries and 82 reported deaths. Last week, there were 208 active cases and 82 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 27 showed:  Angelina – 34 active cases and 283 fatalities, last week there were 82 active cases with 280 fatalities; Cherokee – 27 active cases and 142 fatalities, last week there were 24 active cases with 140 fatalities; Freestone – 50 active cases and 50 fatalities, last week there were 62 active cases with 50 fatalities; Henderson – 186 active cases and 191 fatalities, last week there were 204 active cases with 189 fatalities; Leon – 11 active cases and 43 fatalities, last week there were also 13 active cases with 43 fatalities; Madison – 18 active cases and 29 fatalities, last week there were 14 active cases with 29 fatalities; Trinity – 21 active cases and 26 fatalities, last week there were 17 active cases with 26 fatalities; and Walker – 0 active case and 130 fatalities, last week there were 0 active cases with 129 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 throughout 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 27, 2021, approximately 2.51 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Texas while 50,308 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 27 update showed a total of 30,114,439 Coronavirus tests had been administered in Texas with 1,899 current hospitalizations, down from 2,103 last week. The TxDSHS also reported 2,813,919 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 27, the positivity rate was 3.41%, a slight decrease from last week when the rate stood at 3.69%.   

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 28, across the US there have been 33,219,942 confirmed cases of COVID-19 – an increase of 150,000 from a week ago.

The CSSE also reported there were 593,325 US residents who had suffered a COVID-19 related death as of May 28 – an increase of 4,466 deaths from a week ago.       

Worldwide, on May 28, as of 1:21 pm, there have been 169,071,044 (last week – 165,694,421) confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 3,513,320 (last week – 3,433,811) deaths attributed to the virus. The CDC, WHO and the CSSE are also reporting 1,800,307,396 individuals have been vaccinated.  

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

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