COVID-19 Numbers Continue Upward Trend
Update Sept. 10
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
EAST TEXAS – In a recent article published by CNN, it was stated more than 75 million eligible Americans are still not vaccinated, while hospitals in many states are overwhelmed as fears continue to escalate that the number of cases could increase tremendously in the fall.
On Thursday, Sept. 9, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease Director Dr. Anthony Fauci stated, “The one thing that we do know for sure… 160,000 cases a day is not where we want to be. Unfortunately, that is where we are right now.”
Across the Lone Star State, the TxDSHS reported another 23,700 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 along with 408 related fatalities on Thursday, Sept. 10.
In addition, the TxDSHS indicated on Sept. 10, there were 245 estimated, active cases in Houston County with approximately 2,223 people who have recovered. There have also been 64 reported deaths. Last week, there were 259 active cases and 64 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, Sept. 10 the county had a total of 677 active cases. There have also been 3,854 recoveries and 87 reported deaths. Last week, there were 509 active cases and 84 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 Sept. 10 showed: Angelina – 1,475 active cases and 323 fatalities, last week there were 1,311 active cases with 311 fatalities; Cherokee – 390 active cases and 162 fatalities, last week there were 518 active cases with 156 fatalities; Freestone –216 active cases and 57 fatalities, last week there were 186 active cases with 56 fatalities; Henderson – 1,448 active cases and 246 fatalities, last week there were 1,230 active cases with 224 fatalities; Leon – 249 active cases and 52 fatalities, last week there were 179 active cases with 49 fatalities; Madison – 139 active cases and 36 fatalities, last week there were 124 active cases with 34 fatalities; Trinity – 183 active cases and 42 fatalities, last week there were 170 active cases with 39 fatalities; and Walker – 624 active case and 150 fatalities, last week there were 573 active cases with 145 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 Sept. 9, 2021, over 3.15 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Texas while 57,932 Texans had suffered a COVID-19 related death. Furthermore, 254 out of 254 – or 100% of counties in the state of Texas – now have at least one active case of COVID-19.
The Sept. 9 update showed a total of 39,061,161 Coronavirus tests had been administered in Texas with 13,486 current hospitalizations, down from 13,932 last week. The TxDSHS also reported 3,354,669 recoveries. There have also been 30,866,751 vaccine doses given in Texas.
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 Sept. 9, the positivity rate was 14.85 %, down from last week when the rate stood at 15.35%.
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 Sept. 10, across the US there have been 40,625,721 confirmed cases of COVID-19 – an increase of 1,068,959 from a week ago.
The CSSE also reported there were 654,806 US residents who had suffered a COVID-19 related death as of Sept. 10 – an increase of 11,032 fatalities from a week ago. So far in the US, 376,273,100 vaccine doses have been administered.
Worldwide, on Sept. 10, as of 10:21 am, there have been 223,369,412 (last week – 219,254,079) confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 4,608,983 (last week – 4,545,991) deaths attributed to the virus. The CDC, WHO and the CSSE are also reporting 5,619,227,616 vaccine doses have been administered.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
