Galveston County has continued to see decreasing rates of active COVID-19 cases, new coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations throughout November.

A total of 86 new cases have been reported so far the week of Nov. 14. The weekly number of new cases has not exceeded 300 since the week of Oct. 10, according to public health data reported by the Galveston County Health District.

There are 22 county residents hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Nov. 17, down about 73% from 81 in mid-October. People under age 31 represent roughly 14% of total current hospitalizations, per the GCHD.

Case fatality remains at 1%, and 1,082 cases are active, down from the 1,330 active as of Nov. 3. The percentage of positive tests reported has been at or below 6% each full week in November, per the latest GCHD data. For the week of Nov. 14, 8% of reported cases so far have been positive.

A total of seven more coronavirus deaths have been reported by the GCHD since Nov. 3, down from the 13 reported Oct. 17-Nov. 3. Of those deaths, one person was fully vaccinated, per the GCHD.


As of Nov. 12, there had been 2,141 breakthrough cases in Galveston County, per the GCHD’s Nov. 17 update. COVID-19 cases occurring in people who are fully vaccinated are considered breakthrough cases, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This equates to an approximate 1% breakthrough rate; more than 188,000 county residents are fully vaccinated, per the GCHD, compared to about 186,500 vaccinated as of Nov. 3.

The county is offering vaccines at indoor and drive-thru clinics as well as booster shots for those who qualify. The GCHD on Nov. 4 began offering COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5-11, per a Nov. 3 update.

Click here to view the coronavirus dashboard on the health district’s website.
<


Clear Creek ISD, Greater Houston-area COVID-19 updates

CCISD leaders announced new COVID-19 protocols for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year earlier this month then moved one stage closer to normal operations the morning of Nov. 10. The district moved from Stage 3, the mitigation stage, to Stage 4, the monitoring stage. Click here to read more about the protocol changes.

At an average of 63 new coronavirus patients per day between Nov. 1-7, the Texas Medical Center is seeing some of the lowest numbers of new cases since the pandemic began, the TMC reported in its data dashboard. Click here to read more data breakdowns.

The Houston Health Department began offering free coronavirus vaccines to children ages 5-11 on Nov. 5 at vaccination sites across the city. Click here to read what Houston officials had to say about the move.


Hunter Marrow and Shawn Arrajj contributed to this report.