February’s COVID-19 cases bring an increase in transmission spread, new cases

Published 6:11 pm Thursday, February 3, 2022

In the first COVID update of February, Smith County is seeing higher transmission levels of the COVID-19 virus compared to Monday, with nearly a 17% increase in spread and a 7% increase in active cases. Additionally, Tyler hospitals continue in the 300-range of patient hospitalizations.

Active cases in Smith County are up over 7%, now at 13,010 compared to 12,125 reported Monday, according to the Northeast Public Health District. A week ago, there were 11,021 active cases in the county.

NET Health also reported 1,664 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the county since Monday. Of those, 1,211 are confirmed and 453 are probable. NET Health defines probable cases as those that are attributed to patients who have received positive antigen tests, until the person has been administered a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test. If a person’s PCR laboratory result is positive, that becomes a confirmed case.

A total of 11,244 cases were reported in the county throughout January. On Jan. 24, Smith County surpassed a pandemic high of new COVID-19 cases in a single month since NET Health began reporting data in September 2020. The previous pandemic high of new virus cases was September 2021, when the county saw a total of 8,351 new cases, according to NET Health. January’s new COVID cases in the county topped the previous record by 2,893 new cases.

Comparatively, there were 1,382 new cases reported in December and 504 new cases in November, according to NET Health.

There has been a 17% increase in community transmission levels in Smith County over the last three days, NET Health data show. The previously reported community spread level of the virus on Monday was 145.75. Thursday’s report shows the county’s community spread level is now at 170.50.

Smith County has the highest rate of community spread levels among counties covered by NET Health. Van Zandt County follows with a level of 110.56. The NET Health county with the lowest community spread level is Anderson County at 59.38.

Thursday’s report shows Tyler hospitals are hovering near a peak of COVID-19 patients in hospital beds, although the number has decreased since Monday’s report. NET Health reported 301 East Texans treated for COVID-19 at Tyler hospitals, 24 less than those reported Monday. The previous peak of hospitalizations was in September 2021 when that number reached 389.

The number of COVID-19 patients in the state’s 19-county Trauma Region G, which includes Tyler and Longview, continues to increase. On Thursday, 535 patients were hospitalized in the region, an increase of 34 since Thursday’s report. Hospitalizations include 111 patients in ICUs and 88 patients 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, 55.13% of people age 5 and older had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 48.51% of people age 5 and older had been fully vaccinated, according to the state. State data shows 85.87% of people 65 and older in the county had been vaccinated with at least one dose as of Thursday, while 79.33% 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.

At the Smith County Jail as of Thursday, four inmates had an active diagnosis of COVID-19, and one inmate has died due to COVID-19, according to NET Health. The Smith County Jail’s in-person visitation remains canceled due to the recent uptick in cases.

There have been 51,513 total COVID-19 cases in Smith County since the pandemic began and 38,074 total recoveries, according to NET Health.

Other counties

Gregg County had 475 new cases — 186 confirmed, 289 probable — reported since Monday. There were 5,146 total active cases within the county.

Henderson County had 234 new cases — 173 confirmed, 61 probable — reported since Monday. There were 2,516 total active cases within the county.

Van Zandt County had 194 new cases — 111 confirmed, 83 probable — reported since Monday. There were 2,164 total active cases within the county.

Anderson County had 117 new cases — 29 confirmed, 88 probable — reported since Monday. There were 1,322 total active cases within the county.

Wood County had 173 new cases — 110 confirmed, 63 probable — reported since Monday. There were 1,684 total active cases within the county.

Rains County had 34 new cases — 12 confirmed, 22 probable — reported since Monday and there were 340 total active cases within the county.

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