Rate of COVID-19 spread in Gregg County remains steady

Published 7:00 pm Thursday, September 23, 2021

The rate of COVID-19 spread in Gregg County remains about half of what it was in early September.

The Northeast Texas Public Health District, known as NET Health, reported Thursday that Gregg County’s seven-day rolling rate of infection remained the same as Monday at 74.11. That rate still is more than double NET Health’s threshold for “substantial” community spread. However, it’s lower than the week of Sept. 3 through 9, when the seven-day rolling rate reached 142.92.

The level of community spread is determined by taking the average number of all COVID-19 positive cases from the previous seven days. That number is then divided by the population of the county and multiplied by 100,000. A county reaches “substantial” community spread when its seven-day rolling rate is at or more than 35 cases. Substantial community spread represents “large-scale, uncontrolled community transmission,” according to the health district.

Also Thursday, 279 total new COVID-19 cases were reported in Gregg County. NET Health’s twice-weekly report showed 74 new confirmed cases along with 205 probable cases. Total active cases within the county are at 3,834.

According to NET Health, 356 East Texans are being treated for COVID-19 at Tyler hospitals, which is slightly lower than a peak high of 389 patients set Labor Day weekend.

Data in Thursday’s report represents the past 72 hours, from noon Monday to noon Thursday.

Recoveries in Gregg County increased from 14,133 on Monday to 14,222.

On Thursday, the latest day for which data was available, 723 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in the state’s 19-county Trauma Region G with 264 of those in ICUs. Earlier this month, hospitalizations in the Longview-Tyler region reached 822, the highest number of single-day COVID-19 hospitalizations in the region since the pandemic began.

Hospitalizations in recent weeks have surpassed a peak in January when the single-day number of patients peaked at 684 on Jan. 6.

In Gregg County, 55.65% of people 12 and older had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 47.39% of residents 12 and older had been fully vaccinated, according to the state.

State data shows 71.17% of Texas residents 12 and older had been vaccinated with at least one dose as of Thursday, while 60.83% had been fully vaccinated.