Galveston County reported additional coronavirus deaths for the first time since June 11 and hit a new record-high daily case count July 1, according to the health department’s case count database.
Four new deaths and 272 new cases were reported July 1, bringing the death total to 45. There are now 3,565 confirmed coronavirus cases in Galveston County.
Cases nearly tripled during the month of June, per health department data. On June 1, the county had a total of 847 confirmed cases, passing the 1,000-case mark June 8 and hitting 2,000 cases about two weeks later June 23. On June 30, the county reported an additional 231 cases, bringing the total to 3,293. Since June 24, there have been four days when the county reported upward of 200 new confirmed cases.
The total includes outbreaks at five nursing homes in Friendswood, League City and Texas City that have infected a collective 248 people, per health department data. The nursing home outbreaks account for roughly 1 in every 6 cases in both League City and Texas City, and about 4% of the total cases in Friendswood.
In League City, nursing home cases were reported at Regent Care Center of League City and Ashton Parke Care Center from approximately mid-March to late June; the county reported about two dozen cases from The Crossings - Methodist Retirement Communities at the end of June.
More than 900 recoveries have been reported by the county as of July 1. Galveston County also began displaying antibody test results on the database in mid-June. Just over 2,000 people have received the testing thus far with all but 48 of those people testing negative.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo elevated the county’s COVID-19 threat level from “significant” to “severe” on the afternoon of June 26, which is the highest threat level possible in the system. For the latest information on how and where to find coronavirus testing locations in Houston, click here.
Here is other regional and state coronavirus-related news for Bay Area residents to know going into the Fourth of July weekend.
11:30 p.m. July 1: Another 1,437 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Harris County July 1; the daily total, the third highest in the county's history, came as Texas confirmed more than 8,000 new cases overall, a new high for the state. The county has now confirmed an average of 1,010 new cases per day over the past week. As intensive care unit occupancy rates in Texas Medical Center hospitals continue to rise, officials activated Phase 2 of the system's ICU supply for the first time. For more coverage, click here.
7:30 p.m. July 1: Clear Creek ISD plans to open its doors and welcome students back to campuses Aug. 18, but families not yet comfortable with in-person education will have the option of sending their kids to school online through the district’s new Clear Connections platform. For more on changes during the 2020-21 school year, click here.
1:30 p.m. July 1: Texas sales tax revenue totaled $2.67 billion in June, down 6.5% from a year ago, according to sales tax revenue figures released by the office of the Texas comptroller of public accounts. For more coverage, click here.
8:45 a.m. July 1: Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath gave a presentation to the State Board of Education on June 30, during which he said students will be required to once again take the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness in the 2020-21 school year. Students were exempt from taking the test in the 2019-20 year due to the coronavirus pandemic. For more coverage, click here.
6 p.m. June 30: Harris County commissioners voted 3-2 at a June 30 meeting to extend the county's coronavirus disaster declaration and with it a recently passed order mandating face coverings in businesses through Aug. 26. For more coverage, click here.
