Update on Spread of Coronavirus – April 30
Area Numbers See Slight Uptick
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. 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.
Two weeks ago, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Dr. Rochelle Walensky – cautioned Americans not to let their guard down in the fight against COVID-19, warning of a potential fourth wave of the virus.
Closer to home, the Texas Department of Health Services (TxDSHS) reported another 67 fatalities in the State of Texas related to the virus on Thursday, April 29.
In addition, the TxDSHS indicated on April 29, there were 25 estimated, active cases in Houston County with approximately 1,553 people who have recovered. There have also been 52 reported deaths. Last week, there were 21 active cases and 51 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, April 29, the county had a total of 134 active cases. There have also been 3,163 recoveries and 80 reported deaths. Last week, there were 106 active cases and 80 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 April 29 showed: Angelina – 192 active cases and 279 fatalities, last week there were 215 active cases with 276 fatalities; Cherokee – 16 active cases and 138 fatalities, last week there were 23 active cases with 136 fatalities; Freestone – 41 active cases and 49 fatalities, last week there were 39 active cases with 49 fatalities; Henderson – 156 active cases and 184 fatalities, last week there were 200 active cases with 184 fatalities; Leon – 20 active cases and 43 fatalities, last week there were also 22 active cases with 42 fatalities; Madison – 19 active cases and 29 fatalities, last week there were 18 active cases with 29 fatalities; Trinity – 18 active cases and 25 fatalities, last week there were 16 active cases with 25 fatalities; and Walker – 59 active cases and 125 fatalities, last week there were 52 active cases with 125 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 April 29, 2021, approximately 2.47 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Texas while 49,128 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 April 29 update showed a total of 28,160,119 Coronavirus tests have been administered in Texas with 2,745 current hospitalizations, down from 2,935 last week. The TxDSHS also reported 2,738,193 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 April 29, the positivity rate was 5.4%, a decrease from last week when the rate stood at 5.6%.
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 April 30, across the US there have been 32,296,353 confirmed cases of COVID-19 – an increase of 345,522 from a week ago.
The CSSE also reported there were 575,270 US residents who had suffered a COVID-19 related death as of April 23 – an increase of 4,659 deaths from a week ago.
Worldwide, on April 30, as of 10:21 am, there have been 150,673,998 (last week – 144,979,282) confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 3,169,019 (last week – 2,076,484) deaths attributed to the virus. The CDC, WHO and the CSSE are also reporting 87,715,095 (last week – 83,339,814) patients have recovered from the disease.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
