Smith County’s COVID-19 infections so far in December surpass November

Published 5:00 pm Thursday, December 23, 2021

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Smith County so far in December has surpassed the total number of new cases reported in November, according to the Northeast Public Health District.

There were a total of 504 COVID-positive cases last month and as of Thursday, there have been 752 new cases this month in the county. In addition, all seven counties in the NET Health jurisdiction are now at moderate spreads of the virus.

According to NET Health, 115 new cases — 37 confirmed, 78 probable — were reported since Monday.

NET Health’s Thursday data shows 648 total active cases — 288 confirmed and 360 probable — reported in the county compared to 621 active cases shown on Monday.

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.

At the beginning of November, there were over 1,000 total active cases within the county. Throughout the month of October, there were 2,005 new COVID-19 cases reported within the county compared to September, in which new cases totaled 8,351, according to NET Health data.

On Monday, Smith County was at moderate community spread levels of 15.46 and on Thursday, the level slightly fell to 15.34.

As of Thursday, all counties are now at moderate spread levels of the virus. 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.

Rains County has the highest moderate spread level in NET Health’s seven-county jurisdiction at 21.68, which was much lower at 1.14 on Monday. According to NET Health, since Rains County has the lowest population in the district, it is most prone to have a higher spread rate number depending on the number of its residents who are testing COVID positive.

The county with the second-highest level is Wood at 17.25. Smith County follows, leading next to Anderson County at 13.60, Henderson County at 13.29 and Van Zandt at 11.61. Gregg County has the lowest spread level at 10.02.

There have been 37,975 COVID-19 cases in Smith County since the pandemic began. NET Health reports 36,903 total recoveries in Smith County.

According to NET Health, there were 63 East Texans being treated for COVID-19 at Tyler hospitals on Thursday. Similar hospitalization rates in Tyler were seen in early-to-mid August. Thursday’s data is 83% lower than the hospitalization rate of 389 reached in September in Tyler.

Currently, no Smith County jail inmates has an active diagnosis of COVID-19 and one inmate has died due to COVID-19 since Monday’s report, according to NET Health.

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.

As of Thursday in Smith County, 53.43% of people age 5 and older had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 46.91% of people age 5 and older had been fully vaccinated, according to the state.

State data shows 85.01% of people 65 and older in the county had been vaccinated with at least one dose on Thursday, while 78.47% 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.

Other Counties

Gregg County had 58 new cases — 19 confirmed, 39 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.