Texas Medical Center coronavirus updates: In 3 weeks, patient numbers drop 43%; ICU patients see nearly 24% decrease

Since Sept. 13, common coronavirus metrics tracked by Texas Medical Center are showing declines across the board, including patient numbers and new hospitalizations.

According to the medical center’s data dashboard, which went back to a weekly publishing schedule Oct. 4, the number of new COVID-19 hospitalizations the medical center saw on any day during the week from Sept. 27-Oct. 3 dropped almost 47% over a three-week period at 174 patients, compared to the 328 the medical center saw on average each day from Sept. 6-12.

TMC hospitals are housing 1,340 coronavirus patients, down about 43% compared to three weeks ago, when patient numbers were close to hitting 2,400, according to TMC data.

Of those patients, 466 are hooked to ventilators in an intensive care unit, a decline versus the over 600 intensive care patients TMC hospitals were reporting in mid-September.

Meanwhile, the seven-day average COVID-19 testing positivity rate of patients visiting the TMC was 7% the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 3, down from 13.1% four weeks ago.

That positivity rate comes as more than 76% of eligible residents in Harris County have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to Oct. 4 Harris County Public Health data.

In addition, according to coronavirus age and demographic data from Harris County Public Health and the Houston Health Department, residents age 19 and under represented 28.8% of all weekly cases, the two health agencies reported Sept. 20, down from 29.7% the week prior and down from 35.1% reported Aug. 30.