Nearly 17 months after the first coronavirus cases were reported in Galveston County, new cases are being reported at record-high rates.
The Galveston County Health District reported a total 415 additional COVID-19 cases Aug. 6, the highest single-day increase in the county to date, according to the health district’s daily email updates. Case count data from mid-March 2020 to the present can be viewed via an online dashboard; sign up here to receive the daily email briefings.
The percentage of positive test results by week has been slowly climbing in the county since mid-June. Rates peaked the week of July 25, when 20% of tests came back positive. Case positivity rates have not been above 15% since December, per the GCHD’s weekly trends data.
The delta variant of the virus has become dominant both in the region and the country, Texas Medical Center officials said in late July. As of July 21—the last time the GCHD included delta variant statistics in its daily email updates—the variant has been confirmed in 21 test samples related to a recent church camp outbreak. GCHD officials did not respond to requests for comment on delta variant cases in early August.
The health district confirmed 157 cases in Galveston County residents tied to the outbreak as of July 21. Of those cases, 20 were identified as breakthrough cases, meaning the person was infected after being fully vaccinated. Six of the breakthrough cases tested positive for the delta variant, per the GCHD.
There has been a total of 510 breakthrough cases in Galveston County as of Aug. 6, per GCHD’s email update. This equates to an about 0.32% breakthrough rate for the vaccinated, which GCHD said is lower than what was expected from studies. More than 157,500 county residents are fully vaccinated, per the GCHD.
Between July 26 and Aug. 1, an average of 11.5% of patients who tested for COVID-19—out of nearly 3,400 tests—came up positive in Texas Medical Center hospital systems. Click here for more TMC updates.
In nearby Harris County, officials have once again raised the coronavirus threat level, this time to red—just two weeks after raising it from yellow to orange. The new threat level signifies a severe, uncontrolled level of the virus in the community.
Unvaccinated residents are asked to minimize contact with others whenever possible and avoid leaving home except for the most essential needs, county officials said during an Aug. 5 news conference. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents are encouraged to wear masks, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said during the news conference. Click here to read more takeaways about Harris County’s coronavirus spread.
Hunter Marrow contributed to this report.
