In the week spanning Aug. 1-7, Texas Medical Center facilities admitted an average 220 COVID-19 patients per day to its hospitals, a slight increase from the 219 average patients per day in the week of July 25-31, according to the TMC’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Meanwhile, the city of Houston’s average wastewater viral load was 562% baseline as of Aug. 9—or 5.62 times the COVID-19 viral count of July 2020. That measurement was a 22.5% decrease from the previous week’s baseline.

During the week of Aug. 2-9, there was an average of 115.76 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in Harris County each day. New cases trended downward at a rate of 47.86 fewer cases per day between July 26-Aug. 9, according to the Harris County Public Health Department.

The coronavirus positivity rate also slightly declined between the two weeks from 14.8% to 13.8% across the Greater Houston area, according to the TMC. The positivity rate measures what percentage of COVID-19 tests come back with positive results in the area.

As of Aug. 9, the Texas Department of State Health Services is reporting 74.4% of all Harris County residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine with 63.8% of the total population fully vaccinated.


The Harris County COVID-19 threat level is moderate with officials advising vigilance and care to the unvaccinated.