Harris County coronavirus count: Daily case count under 600 for eighth straight day

Another 985 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Harris County over the Oct. 10-11 weekend, including 450 new cases on Oct. 10 and 535 new cases on Oct. 11.

The county has now confirmed fewer than 600 new cases for eight consecutive days, according to data from the Harris County Public Health Department. The number of cases confirmed over the course of the week ending Oct. 9 was also the lowest weekly case total since early June.

The testing positivity rate continues to slowly fall in Harris County, and the 14-day average dropped below 6% for the first time since the data started being tracked. The 14-day average for testing positivity was at 5.8% as of the most recent available data Oct. 3, down from 6.2% on Sept. 26. County officials have previously said they want to see the positivity rate drop below 5%.

Meanwhile, in the Texas Medical Center, testing positivity has been below the 5% threshold for almost a month, according to an Oct. 7 update.

TMC officials are also tracking the daily new case total in the nine-county Greater Houston area and have said the number of new daily cases needs to be below 200 per day for 14 consecutive days to demonstrate community control of the virus. As of the most recent update Oct. 8, 478 new cases were confirmed per day, up from 394, which was the total from one week prior.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Harris County hospitals has remained mostly flat over the past week, according to data from the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council. The number of patients in general wards was at 340 on Oct. 11, up from 316 on Oct. 4. The number of patients in intensive care units was at 154 on Oct. 11, down from 161 on Oct. 4.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Harris County now stands at 151,161, with 21,528 active cases, 127,565 recovered cases and 2,063 deaths that have been caused by the coronavirus.