Community spread

COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to decrease slightly in the Longview and Tyler region with newly released data Friday.

COVID-19 patients on Thursday, the latest day for which data was available, accounted for 11% of hospital capacity in the Trauma Service Region G, Texas Department of State Health Services data showed. The rate in the region has been below 15% for 14 consecutive days, and the figure representing Thursday’s data is the lowest in that time.

The number comes after a hospitalization rate of less than 15% for seven consecutive days on Feb. 5 triggered a rollback on business restrictions in the region that were set Dec. 20 after the rate surpassed 15% for a week straight. The rate hit a high Jan. 9 at 25.43% amid 46 straight days of rates higher than 15%.

The counties that make up the trauma service area are Gregg, Anderson, Camp, Cherokee, Franklin, Freestone, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Marion, Panola, Rains, Rusk, Shelby, Smith, Trinity, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood.

The Northeast Texas Public Health District, known as NET Health, reported that Gregg County’s rate of community spread for COVID-19 remained at a “substantial” level and that its seven-day rolling rate of infection rose slightly from the previous week.

Gregg County’s seven-day rolling rate of infection, adjusted for population, was 51.41 for the period Feb. 4 through Wednesday, an increase of 1.5 from the previous week.

The health district reported Gregg, Henderson and Wood counties had “substantial” levels of community spread of the disease, which signifies large-scale, uncontrolled community transmission. Rains, Smith and Van Zandt counties moved from substantial to moderate levels of community spread. Anderson County continued to have the lowest seven-day rolling rate of infection adjusted for population among the seven counties served by NET Health.

The state on Friday reported four new cases of coronavirus in Harrison County residents and no additional deaths.

The county has had 2,276 cases and 88 fatalities from the virus, according to state data.

The state reported just one new case of the coronavirus in Rusk County and one additional death. The county has had 2,023 positive cases, according to the state, and 87 COVID-19 deaths.

Upshur County’s daily coronavirus cases increased by five for a total of 1,246, and the county’s deaths from the virus remained at 52.

NET Health on Friday evening did not update new cases, recoveries and deaths for Gregg and the six other counties it serves. This past week, the district said starting in November it would update numbers only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 

Statewide

Texas reported 324 more deaths Friday from the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 as the state’s pandemic death toll topped 40,000.

The Texas Department of State Health Services said the state’s COVID-19 deaths now total 40,095. The state’s confirmed and probable coronavirus cases rose by 11,371 to 2,541,845.

Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases in Texas has fallen by 5,941.3, a decrease of 34.3%, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

But only 9.8% of the Texas population has received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna coronavirus vaccine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only 3.6% of the population have completed their round of vaccinations, the CDC said.

The total of reported cases of COVID-19 by Friday evening in Northeast Texas was at least 57,792, up from 57,701 on Thursday. Across the region, 2,059 total deaths had been reported Friday. Here’s a look at totals by county Friday and changes from Thursday:

Anderson: 1,870, 57 deaths

Angelina: 4,506, 240 deaths

Bowie: 4,438 (+29), 169 deaths (+2)

Camp: 768, 40 deaths

Cass: 1,085 (+2), 73 deaths

Cherokee: 2,202 (+3), 117 deaths (+1)

Delta: 160 (+1), 9 deaths (+1)

Franklin: 464 (+4), 21 deaths

Gregg: 5,761, 99 deaths

Harrison: 2,276 (+4), 88 deaths

Henderson: 3,579, 76 deaths

Hopkins: 1,460 (+8), 98 deaths

Lamar: 2,509 (+5), 137 deaths (+1)

Marion: 324, 24 deaths

Morris: 545, 23 deaths (+1)

Nacogdoches: 3,048 (+18), 138 deaths (+1)

Panola: 908, 58 deaths (+1)

Red River: 384 (+2), 34 deaths

Rusk: 2,023 (+1), 87 deaths (+1)

Shelby: 846 (+3), 50 deaths

Smith: 10,611, 184 deaths

Titus: 2,597 (+3), 74 deaths (+1)

Upshur: 1,246 (+5), 52 deaths

Van Zandt: 2,374, 52 deaths

Wood: 1,808, 60 deaths

Total: 57,792, 2,059 deaths

Sources: Texas Department of State Health Services, Northeast Texas Public Health District