The county has reported an additional 66 coronavirus cases since Aug. 28, bringing the total case count to 10,575 as of Aug. 31. About 22% of the cases are active, and 82 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, according to Galveston County Health District data.
Galveston County reported 15 new coronavirus deaths Aug. 31, the highest single-day death total to date. All 15 of the reported deaths were from people that passed away in late July, according to a news release. In all, 112 people in have now died from the coronavirus in the county.
Texas now uses death certificates instead of local reports to count COVID-19 fatalities, resulting in a higher number of reported deaths for Galveston County, according to a GCHD Facebook post:
The average COVID-19 positivity rate in the county from Aug. 23-29 was 4%, dropping below 5% for the first time since mid-May. There were 8,825 total cases in the county at the start of August, marking a 19.8% increase over the course of the month. Total county cases saw more than a 130% increase in the month of July.
The cities of Galveston and League City have the most cases, with both having more than 2,000 confirmed as of Aug. 31.
Seven new cases have been reported in Friendswood since Aug. 28, bringing the total to 630.
The county also began displaying antibody test results on the database in mid-June. Nearly 4,400 people have received the testing thus far, with all but 347 of those people testing negative.
Outbreaks at six nursing homes in Friendswood, League City and Texas City have infected a collective 257 people, per health department data. The nursing home outbreaks account for about 6% of the cases in both League City and Texas City and for less than 2% of the total cases in Friendswood.
Breakdowns of Harris County coronavirus data from the Aug. 29-30 weekend can be found here. For the latest updates from the Texas Medical Center, click here.
