COVID-19 Cases Continue to Climb

Update Jan. 21

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

EAST TEXAS – According to a recent ABC News article, “More than 160,000 COVID-19-positive Americans are currently in hospitals – a pandemic high and double the number from about three weeks ago, according to federal data. It’s still not clear how many were admitted with COVID-19 and how many tested positive for the virus after they were admitted for other reasons.”

The article, published on Jan. 20, further stated the U.S. is reporting an average of 760,000 new cases per day. Although case levels remain high, there’s growing evidence to suggest the omicron surge is receding in the parts of the country first struck by the variant.

Across the state of Texas, the Texas Department of State Health Services (TxDSHS) reported 37,900 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 along with 166 related fatalities, on Thursday, Jan. 20.

In addition, the TxDSHS indicated on Jan. 20, there were 253 estimated, active cases in Houston County with approximately 2,895 people who have recovered. There have also been 94 reported deaths. On Jan. 13, there were 313 active cases and 91 deaths.

The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Houston County on April 17, 2020, when it was learned three individuals had tested positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, in Anderson County, it was announced on Thursday, Jan. 20 the county had a total of 972 active cases. There have also been 5,635 recoveries and 115 reported deaths. On Jan. 13, there were 797 active cases and 115 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 cumulative fatalities per county – for those counties surrounding Houston and Anderson Counties – as of Jan. 20 showed: Angelina – 794 active cases and 435 fatalities, on Jan. 13 there were 657 active cases with 432 fatalities; Cherokee – 427 active cases and 230 fatalities, on Jan. 13 there were 520 active cases with 230 fatalities; Freestone – 224 active cases and 76 fatalities, on Jan. 13 there were 270 active cases with 75 fatalities; Henderson – 2,012 active cases and 363 fatalities, on Jan. 13 there were 1,581 active cases with 360 fatalities; Leon – 224 active cases and 75 fatalities, on Jan. 13 there were 254 active cases with 74 fatalities; Madison – 221 active cases and 49 fatalities, on Jan. 13 there were 410 active cases with 47 fatalities; Trinity – 234 active cases and 65 fatalities, on Jan. 13 there were 193 active cases with 64 fatalities; and Walker – 2,342 active cases and 191 fatalities, on Jan. 13 there were 2,025 active cases with 189 fatalities.

The Messenger first started tracking the spread of the virus in the East Texas area on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 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 Jan. 20, 2022, over 4.78 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Texas while 76,443 (on Jan. 13 – 75,650) 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 Jan. 20 update showed a total of 55,118,480 Coronavirus tests had been administered in Texas with 13,094 current hospitalizations, up significantly from 11,653 on Jan. 13. There have also been 42,413,592 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 Jan. 20, the positivity rate was 33.22%, down slightly from Jan. 13 when the rate stood at 35.7%.

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 Jan. 21, across the US there have been 69,366,460 confirmed cases of COVID-19 – an increase of 5,045,093 from Jan. 14.

The CSSE further reported there were 860,564 US residents who had suffered a COVID-19 related death as of Jan. 21 – an increase of 13,459 fatalities from Jan. 14. So far in the US, 529,155,490 vaccine doses have been administered.

Worldwide, on Jan. 21, as of 10:21 am, there have been 343,385,893 (on Jan. 14 – 321,266,580) confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 5,577,111 (on Jan. 14 –5,525,560) deaths attributed to the virus. The CDC, WHO and the CSSE are also reporting 9,758,746,672 vaccine doses have been administered.

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