COVID-19 hospitalizations, deaths decrease in Galveston County and other updates

As of Oct. 15, there have been 1,923 breakthrough cases in Galveston County, per the GCHD’s Oct. 15 update. COVID-19 cases occurring in people who are fully vaccinated are considered breakthrough cases, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This equates to an approximate 1% breakthrough rate; nearly 184,500 county residents are fully vaccinated, per the GCHD. The county is offering vaccines at indoor, drive-thru clinics as well as booster shots for those who qualify.

There are 81 county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Oct. 15, down slightly from 96 at the beginning of October, per the dashboard. Four of those hospitalized are under the age of 21, and 10 are younger than 31.

Click here to view the GCHD’s coronavirus dashboard on the health district website.

Greater Houston COVID-19 updates

Common coronavirus metrics tracked by the Texas Medical Center have shown declines across the board since mid-September, including patient numbers and new hospitalizations. The TMC’s dashboard returned to a weekly publishing schedule Oct. 4. Click here to read more mid-October TMC data breakdowns.

On Oct. 11, Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order banning all forms of COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The governor also sent a letter to the Texas Legislature, which would add a ban on COVID-19 vaccine mandates to the third special session agenda. If the Legislature passes a bill banning COVID-19 vaccine mandates, the executive order would expire. Click here to read more about order GA-40.

Hunter Marrow and Jishnu Nair contributed to this report.