Harris County coronavirus count: Hospitalization trends remain flat

After experiencing some drops earlier in the month, the number of COVID-19 patients in Harris County intensive care units has remained flat over the past week, as has the percent of the ICU population that is testing positive for COVID-19, according to data from the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council.

The total number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs hit 653 on July 29. It has remained almost completely unchanged over the past five days, and it is down slightly from a count of 686 patients on July 23. The trend has slowly been moving downward since July 9, when the count came in at 777.

The percent of ICU patients who have COVID-19 has hovered in the low 40s over the past week, down from the low 50s during the peak.

Daily new hospitalizations in Texas Medical Center hospitals have continued to fall, with the seven-day average as of July 28 hitting 244, down from around 350 at the peak in mid-July. A total of 198 new COVID-19 hospitalizations were recorded July 28, falling in a range similar to what the county was seeing in late June before the trend started to spike.

A total of 1,466 new cases and 15 COVID-19 deaths were confirmed in Harris County on July 29, according to public health data. Of the 69,126 cases to be confirmed in the county, 45,514 are active, 22,926 have recovered and 685 have died. The death count has increased by more than 200 since the start of July.

The seven-day average of deaths confirmed in the county was just under 16 per day as of July 29, up from 12 per day as of July 22. The seven-day testing positivity rate in nine-county Greater Houston area ticked up to 18% on July 27, according to the most recent state data.