The COVID-19 effective reproduction rate—a data point meant to gauge whether viral spread is increasing in the community—was below 1 for this first time in 2022 in new data released Jan. 24 by the Texas Medical Center.
Any number above 1 indicates viral spread is increasing, according to the TMC. The rate was 0.87 in the Jan. 24 update.
Meanwhile, the daily average for new COVID-19 cases dropped to 9,004 for the week running from Jan. 17-23, according to the Texas Medical Center, down from 13,395 average new cases per day between Jan. 10-16.
Daily new cases are still above the averages reported throughout December; an average of 5,390 new cases were confirmed per day between Dec. 20-26.
