Gregg County sees increase of total COVID-19 cases, transmission spread level

Published 5:28 pm Thursday, December 23, 2021

All counties in the Northeast Texas Public Health District’s seven-county jurisdiction reached moderate spread levels of the COVID-19 virus Thursday. Gregg County’s active cases have increased 20% since Monday, according to public health data released Thursday.

Active cases in the county increased to 216 since Monday’s report of 179 total cases, according to statistics released by NET Health. There have been 58 new cases — 19 confirmed and 39 probable — in the county as of Thursday.

According to NET Health, probable cases are attributed to patients who have received positive antigen tests, until the individual has been administered a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test. If a person’s PCR laboratory result is positive, that becomes a confirmed case.

The county’s seven-day rolling rate of COVID-19 infection increased to 10.02 Thursday. The rate increased by more than 40%, reported at a minimal community spread level of 7.14 on Thursday. Gregg County has the lowest community spread level in the public health district’s seven-county jurisdiction.

The moderate community spread window consists of a rate between 10 to 35 and indicates sustained transmission with confirmed exposure within congregate settings and potential for rapid increase in cases. 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.

There have been 19,690 COVID-19 cases in Gregg County since the pandemic began, with 19,189 total recoveries, according to NET Health.

Three Gregg County jail inmates have an active diagnosis of COVID-19 as of Thursday. There have been no virus-related jail deaths reported this week, according to the district.

In Gregg County, 54.20% of people age 5 and older had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Thursday, while 47.41% of residents 5 and older had been fully vaccinated, according to the state. State data shows 88.07% of people 65 and older had been vaccinated with at least one dose as of Thursday, while 80.65% of that population had been fully vaccinated. As of Nov. 4, children 5 to 11 years of age are included in vaccination numbers and rates.

On Thursday, there were 94 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the state’s 19-county Trauma Region G, the same that there was on Monday. Of COVID patients hospitalized, 38 of those are in ICUs and 21 patients are on ventilators. In the first half of September, hospitalizations reached 822, the highest number of single-day COVID-19 hospitalizations in the region since the pandemic began.

Other Counties

Smith County had 115 new cases — 37 confirmed, 78 probable — reported since Monday. There are 216 total active cases within the county. There have been 19,189 total recoveries reported.

Henderson County had 44 new cases — 26 confirmed, 18 probable — reported since Monday. There are 181 total active cases within the county. There have been 9,784 total recoveries reported.

Van Zandt County had 24 new cases — nine confirmed, 15 probable — reported since Monday. There are 139 total active cases within the county. There have been 8,158 total recoveries reported.

Anderson County had 40 new cases — 19 confirmed, 21 probable — reported since Monday. There are 120 total active cases within the county. There have been 5,573 total recoveries reported.

Wood County had 37 new cases — three confirmed, 34 probable — reported since Monday. There are 115 total active cases within the county. There have been 6,586 total recoveries reported.

Rains County had 19 new cases — two confirmed, 17 probable — reported since Monday and there are 16 total active cases within the county. There have been 1,530 total recoveries.

Total recoveries and total active cases include probable and confirmed data. Data gathered in Thursday’s report represents the past 72 hours, from noon Monday to noon Thursday.