COVID-19 community spread levels, cases on the rise in Smith County

Published 5:03 pm Monday, October 11, 2021

After weeks of plummeting COVID-19 community spread rates, there is now a distinct upward climb in community spread levels across Smith County.

In Monday’s Northeast Texas Public Health District report, the Smith County spread rate rose from 41.18 to 46.46, an increase of nearly 13%. That is on the heels of a small increase last Thursday. These increases come after a drop of more than 70% since mid-September.

Smith County is one of three counties covered by NET Health with “substantial” levels of community spread. Substantial community spread represents “large-scale, uncontrolled community transmission,” according to NET Health. Joining Smith County in that category are Van Zandt and Rains counties.

Gregg County’s fluctuating community spread levels of COVID-19 continued Monday, as that county dropped from “substantial” to “moderate” spread once again, joining Henderson, Anderson and as of Monday, Wood county, in having “moderate” spread levels.

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.

In total, 465 new cases of COVID-19 were reported Monday in Smith County, with 352 new confirmed cases and 113 new probable cases. The last time the county saw a similar number in new cases was in late September. There are now 3,851 total active cases within the county.

According to NET Health, there were 198 East Texans being treated for COVID-19 at Tyler hospitals on Monday, which is about 49% lower than the high of 389, which was set earlier last month just after Labor Day weekend.

One Smith County Jail inmate on Monday had an active diagnosis of COVID-19, according to NET Health. One inmate has died due to COVID-19.

Data gathered in Monday’s report represents the past 96 hours, from noon Thursday to noon Monday.

On Monday, there were 379 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the state’s 19-county Trauma Region G, approximately 68 fewer than there were on Thursday. Of COVID patients hospitalized, 158 of those are in ICUs and 145 patients are on ventilators. In early September, hospitalizations 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 Smith County, 55.54% of people 12 and older had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 48.49% of people 12 and older had been fully vaccinated, according to the state.

State data shows 82.60% of people age 65 and older in the county had been vaccinated with at least one dose on Monday, while 76.17% of that population had been fully vaccinated.

Other counties

Gregg County had 739 confirmed and 1,130 probable active cases Monday. Confirmed recoveries were at 8,076, while there were 8,815 probable recoveries, according to NET Health.

Henderson County had 478 confirmed active cases and 302 probable active cases, NET Health said. Confirmed recoveries were at 5,684, and there were 2,986 probable recoveries in the county, NET Health said.

Van Zandt County had 520 confirmed active cases and 442 probable active cases, NET Health said. Confirmed recoveries were at 3,997, and 2,760 people had likely recovered in Van Zandt County, NET Health reported.

Anderson County had 95 confirmed active cases and 414 probable active cases, NET Health said. Confirmed recoveries were at 2,382, and probable recoveries were at 2,449, the health district reported.

Wood County had 354 confirmed active cases and 358 probable active cases, NET Health said. Confirmed recoveries in Wood County were at 3,025, and there were 2,506 probable recoveries, NET Health said.

Rains County had 80 confirmed active and seven probable active diagnoses, NET Health said. Confirmed recoveries were at 637, and there were 649 probable recoveries, according to NET Health.