COVID-19 Numbers Rise Again

Update Sept. 3

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

EAST TEXAS – Unfortunately, the numbers of new COVID-19 cases are continuing to trend in the wrong direction. This past week, data published by Texas Department of State Health Services (TxDSHS) indicated every county surrounding Houston and Anderson Counties saw at least one death attributed to the Coronavirus, except Anderson. The numbers also pointed to a rise in active cases in every county except Angelina.

According to a CBS News published on Sept. 3, “For the week ending August 26, children accounted for 22.4% of reported weekly COVID-19 cases, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. While child COVID-19 cases declined in early summer, they have ‘increased exponentially,’ with more than a five-fold increase the past month, according to the academy. The U.S. saw child cases go from about 38,000 the week ending July 22 to more than 200,000 the past week.”  

Across the Lone Star State, the TxDSHS reported another 17,099 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 along with 341 related fatalities on Thursday, Sept. 3.

In addition, the TxDSHS indicated on Sept. 3, there were 259 estimated, active cases in Houston County with approximately 2,116 people who have recovered. There have also been 64 reported deaths. Last week, there were 206 active cases and 61 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. 3 the county had a total of 509 active cases. There have also been 3,739 recoveries and 84 reported deaths. Last week, there were 354 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. 3 showed: Angelina – 1,311 active cases and 302 fatalities, last week there were 1,428 active cases with 311 fatalities; Cherokee – 518 active cases and 156 fatalities, last week there were 408 active cases with 151 fatalities; Freestone –186 active cases and 56 fatalities, last week there were 174 active cases with 55 fatalities; Henderson – 1,230 active cases and 224 fatalities, last week there were 1,057 active cases with 216 fatalities; Leon – 179 active cases and 49 fatalities, last week there were 168 active cases with 46 fatalities; Madison – 124 active cases and 34 fatalities, last week there were 102 active cases with 33 fatalities; Trinity – 170 active cases and 36 fatalities, last week there were 165 active cases with 39 fatalities; and Walker – 573 active case and 145 fatalities, last week there were 417 active cases with 140 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. 2, 2021, over 3.05 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Texas while 56,296 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. 2 update showed a total of 37,870,808 Coronavirus tests had been administered in Texas with 13,932 current hospitalizations, down from 13,790 last week. The TxDSHS also reported 3,246,758 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 Sept. 2, the positivity rate was 15.35 %, down from last week when the rate stood at 16.03%.

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. 3, across the US there have been 39,556,762 confirmed cases of COVID-19 – an increase of 1,164,512 from a week ago.

The CSSE also reported there were 643,774 US residents who had suffered a COVID-19 related death as of Sept. 3 – an increase of 10,161 fatalities from a week ago. So far in the US, 370,959,755 vaccine doses have been administered.

Worldwide, on Sept. 3, as of 9:21 am, there have been 219,254,079 (last week – 214,858,536) confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 4,545,991 (last week – 4,478,480) deaths attributed to the virus. The CDC, WHO and the CSSE are also reporting 5,394,293,116 vaccine doses have been administered.

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