Texas Medical Center coronavirus updates: Average testing positivity rate nears 10% after sharp increase

In the week spanning July 18-26, the average testing positivity rate for COVID-19 in Texas Medical Center hospital systems was recorded at 9.1%, a sharp increase from the previous week's rate of 5.7%, according to TMC's weekly data dashboard.

This comes as, in the last week, the medical center admitted on average 154 new COVID-19 patients per day, up nearly 54% from the 100 patients hospitals admitted per day during the week prior.

The number of total COVID-19 patients housed in TMC hospitals has dramatically increased over the last two weeks from 341 patients July 11 to 906 patients July 25, according to medical center data.

In that same period, the weekly average number of COVID-19 patients on ventilators in intensive care units has nearly doubled, rising from 95 to 183. That patient count spans the CHI Texas Division, Harris Health System, Houston Methodist, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Hermann and UT Health systems covering Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller counties.

These trends come as more than 97% of people nationwide who are being hospitalized because of the disease are unvaccinated, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in a July 16 White House press briefing. According to Dr. Paul Klotman, president, CEO and executive dean of Baylor College of Medicine, in a July 20 webinar, close to 99.5% of coronavirus deaths in recent weeks have been unvaccinated individuals.

Meanwhile, Harris County reported 63% of its population over age 12 had been inoculated with at least one vaccine dose as of July 25, compared to the nearly 61% vaccinated in Texas.