NET Health: Active COVID-19 cases increase 8% while 100-plus new total cases reported over weekend

Published 3:45 pm Monday, December 20, 2021

The Northeast Public Health District’s most recent statistics show the total number of active COVID-19 cases in Smith County has increased and 136 new cases were reported over the weekend.

NET Health’s Monday data shows 621 total active cases in the county compared to 573 reported Thursday.

Smith County also saw 136 new total cases — 65 confirmed and 71 probable — reported in Monday’s data. According to NET Health, probable cases are attributed to patients who have received a 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 Thursday, Smith County was at moderate community spread levels of 10.12 and on Monday, the level rose to 15.46 to become the highest spread level in the NET Health region.

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.

Smith County has the highest moderate spread level in NET Health’s seven-county jurisdiction, followed by Van Zandt County at 12.87. Rains and Gregg are the only two counties in the region that remain in minimal spread levels, with Rains County at the lowest level of 1.14.

There have been 37,860 COVID-19 cases in Smith County since the pandemic began. NET Health reports 36,815 total recoveries in Smith County.

According to NET Health, there were 64 East Texans being treated for COVID-19 at Tyler hospitals on Monday, approximately 13 more than there were 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, according to NET Health’s data on Monday.

On Monday, there were 94 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the state’s 19-county Trauma Region G, approximately four fewer than Thursday. Of COVID patients hospitalized, 27 of those are in ICUs and 12 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 Monday in Smith County, 53.30% 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 84.95% of people 65 and older in the county had been vaccinated with at least one dose on Monday, while 78.52% 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 29 new cases — 10 confirmed, 19 probable — reported since Thursday. There are 179 total active cases within the county. There have been 19,168 total recoveries reported.

Henderson County had 33 new cases — 15 confirmed, 18 probable — reported since Thursday. There are 164 total active cases within the county. There have been 9,769 total recoveries reported.

Van Zandt County had 21 new cases — 12 confirmed, nine probable — reported since Thursday. There are 151 total active cases within the county. There have been 8,129 total recoveries reported.

Anderson County had 15 new cases — 12 confirmed, three probable — reported since Thursday. There are 86 total active cases within the county. There have been 5,567 total recoveries reported.

Wood County had 18 new cases — 13 confirmed, five probable — reported since Thursday. There are 124 total active cases within the county. There have been 6,540 total recoveries reported.

Rains County had no new cases reported since Thursday and there are 15 total active cases within the county. There have been 1,512 total recoveries.

Total recoveries and total active cases include probable and confirmed data. Data gathered in Monday’s report represents the past 96 hours, from noon Thursday to noon Monday.