Harris County coronavirus count: Hospitalization, testing positivity rates start to stabilize

After increasing for several weeks in Harris County, the average rate of testing positivity and the numbers of COVID-19 patients in county hospitals have started to stabilize, according to an analysis of data from the Harris County Public Health Department and the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council.

The COVID-19 patient count in Harris County hospitals was at 2,147 as of Jan. 27, according to SETRAC—down from 2,298 one week ago, Jan. 20. Over that time frame, general ward hospitalizations are down by 102, and intensive care unit hospitalizations are down by 49.

Between Dec. 1 and Jan. 20, COVID-19 hospitalizations more than doubled, increasing from 1,138 to 2,298.

The 14-day average for testing positivity has slowly been decreasing since around Jan. 7, according to the Harris County Public Health Department. The most recent data as of Jan. 19 put the 14-day average at 18.3%, down from 20% as of Jan. 7. The drop over the past week follows a rapid increase that took place in late December and early January.

Active cases have also declined, falling to 47,069 on Jan. 27—down from 51,362 as of Jan. 20.

Another 2,162 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Harris County on Jan. 27, including 1,421 new cases in the city of Houston and 741 new cases in Harris County outside of the city. The seven-day average for new cases is roughly 2,320.

Confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Harris County are on the rise: 102 deaths were confirmed over the past week as compared to 85 deaths and 49 in the previous two weeks, respectively. Due to a data lag, newly confirmed deaths added to the county's total are not necessarily people who died that day—some dates of death in Houston go back as far as Jan. 8.

The total case count in the county now stands at 306,495, with 47,069 active cases, 256,505 recovered cases and 2,903 deaths.