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COVID-19 Numbers Continue Decline

Update March 4

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

EAST TEXAS – For the first time in a long time, there is good news in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. Hospitalizations have decreased, the average number of deaths has decreased, the average number of new cases has decreased and now nearly 60% of Texans are fully vaccinated, with 70% having received at least one dose of the vaccine.  

Across the state of Texas, the Texas Department of State Health Services (TxDSHS) reported 2,274 (last Thursday 3,805) newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 along with 98 (last Thursday 234) related fatalities, on Thursday, March 3.

So far in 2022, the TxDSHS indicated on March 3, there have been 437 confirmed cases in Houston County. There have also been 106 reported deaths since the pandemic began in 2020. On Feb. 24, there were 429 confirmed cases and 105 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, March 3 the county had a total of 388 active cases. There have also been 7,357 recoveries and 117 reported deaths. On Feb. 24, there were 1,047 active cases and 117 deaths.

On Tuesday, March 31, 2020, it was reported Anderson County had its first confirmed case of the virus.

The number of 2022 confirmed cases and cumulative (2020-2022) fatalities per county – for those counties surrounding Houston and Anderson Counties – as of March 3 showed: Angelina – 1,609 confirmed cases and 469 fatalities, on Feb. 24 there were 1,593 confirmed cases with 464 fatalities; Cherokee – 935 confirmed cases and 246 fatalities, on Feb. 24 there were 928 confirmed cases with 246 fatalities; Freestone – 416 confirmed cases and 82 fatalities, on Feb. 24 there were 407 confirmed cases with 82 fatalities; Henderson – 5,602 confirmed cases and 410 fatalities, on Feb. 24 there were 5,578 confirmed cases with 404 fatalities; Leon – 486 confirmed cases and 89 fatalities, on Feb. 24 there were 477 confirmed cases with 88 fatalities; Madison – 390 confirmed cases and 53 fatalities, on Feb. 24 there were 384 confirmed cases with 51 fatalities; Trinity – 388 confirmed cases and 72 fatalities, on Feb. 24 there were 385 confirmed cases with 71 fatalities; and Walker – 4,210 confirmed cases and 210 fatalities, on Feb. 17 there were 4,158 confirmed cases with 205 fatalities.

The Messenger first started tracking the spread of the virus in the East Texas area on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. 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 March 3, 2022, over 5.43 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Texas while 83,997 (on Feb. 24 – 83,121) 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 March 3 update showed a total of 60,477,237 Coronavirus tests had been administered in Texas with 3,199 current hospitalizations, down from 4,474 on Feb. 24. There have also been 44,500,682 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 March3, the positivity rate was 4.82%, down significantly from Feb. 24, when the rate stood at 7.1%.

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 March 4, across the US there have been 79,202,322 confirmed cases of COVID-19 – an increase of 397,843 from Feb. 25.

The CSSE further reported there were 956,502 US residents who had suffered a COVID-19 related death as of March 4 – an increase of 11,470 fatalities from Feb. 25. So far in the US, 552,436,413 vaccine doses have been administered.

Worldwide, on March 4, as of 10:21 am, there have been 442,652,611 (on Feb. 25 – 432,005,617) confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 5,984,955 (on Feb. 25 – 5,931,664) deaths attributed to the virus. The CDC, WHO and the CSSE are also reporting 10,564,630,597 vaccine doses have been administered.

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

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