Active cases of COVID-19 drop by 50% in Gregg County

Published 5:36 pm Thursday, March 17, 2022

Active cases of COVID-19 in Gregg County on Thursday dropped by more than 50% since Monday, according to data released by public health officials.

The presence of the virus in the county continued to dissipate as new cases remained low and the seven-day rolling rate of COVID-19 again decreased, the Northeast Texas Public Health District reported.

There were 517 active cases of COVID-19 in Gregg County residents on Thursday, according to NET Health, which is a 56% decrease from the 1,185 reported on Monday. The district reported 33 new total cases of the virus on Thursday, a slight increase from 22 new cases reported on Thursday.

The county’s new cases of COVID-19 have continued a decline in recent weeks after a slower February. In the first 17 days of the month, there have been 215 new cases in Gregg County. In all of February, there were 1,682 new cases. In January, there were 4,643 new cases in the county.

Gregg County’s level of community spread of the virus moved to “minimal” on Monday and its seven-day rolling rate of infection continued to decline on Thursday. While the county had the highest rate among the seven counties for which NET Health provides disease surveillance, it registered at just 6.33.

Minimal community spread is a seven-day rolling rate less than 10 and represents evidence of isolated cases or limited community transmission, according to NET Health.

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Gregg County has had 665 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic. The number of fatalities shows an increase of two from Monday.

There were 77 COVID-19 patients on Wednesday in the state’s 19-county Trauma Region G, which includes Longview and Tyler, according to data from the state. On Sunday, there were 99 patients in the region. The number had not dipped below 100 since December.

NET Health on Monday reported there were 50 patients being treated for COVID-19 in Tyler hospitals, an increase from 47 reported on Monday. The number reached a pandemic-high of 389 in September.

In Smith County, NET Health on Thursday reported 26 total new cases of the virus in residents since Monday.