Updated 6:15 p.m. April 5 Harris County officials announced April 4 they are investigating reports of COVID-19 at an assisted living facility in the southeast part of the county where three positive cases have been confirmed, including staff and residents.
The news came one day after health department officials in Galveston County reported 83 people tested positive at the Resort at Texas City and the health department announced stricter rules for nursing homes in response.
Montgomery County has also ordered a shelter-in-place for an independent living senior apartment complex where three deaths related to the coronavirus have occurred.
Harris County is not identifying the facility in question until residents and family members are notified, officials said.
Cases continued to climb throughout the Greater Houston area over the weekend. Galveston County reported 110 new cases, the city of Houston reported 156 new cases and Harris County reported 133 new cases.
The total number of combined deaths in Houston and Harris County is now 20, and the total combined recoveries is 224, leaving 1,151 active cases. Updated 7 p.m. April 3
A total of 83 individuals have tested positive for COVID-19 over the past two days at the Resort at Texas City, a long-term care facility in Galveston County, according to the county health department.
Thirteen positive cases were confirmed April 2, prompting officials to conduct 146 tests on staff and residents, leading to 70 new confirmed cases. Some results are still pending, officials warned.
An April 3 public health order given in Galveston County requires long-term care facilities to notify family members and the public if any COVID-19 cases come back positive. Facilities are also no longer allowed to take residents outside the facility with exceptions for emergency transfers to a hospital and for dialysis.
The 136 total cases reported by the Galveston County Health District April 3 did not include the new cases, which officials said will be included in tomorrow's update and will put the total count at over 200 cases.
In Harris County, total cases of COVID-19 surpassed 1,000 April 3, which includes cases inside the city of Houston.
“Today, our county reached a grim milestone," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a statement. "We know it is easy to feel powerless against this virus, an invisible force responsible for so much hardship across our region. The truth is, we are not powerless. For those of you at home, distancing and protecting your community—thank you ... As we have with every other challenge we have faced, we will emerge stronger when this is over, but the only way to get there is together.”
Updated 6:30 p.m. April 2
Harris County officials confirmed 60 new cases of COVID-19 April 2, bringing the total number of cases to 449, including two deaths and 87 recoveries. Those numbers do not include cases from the city of Houston, where 506 cases and six deaths have been reported.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office confirmed a detention officer received a positive case, bringing the total number of HCSO staff to have tested positive to 13. The officer, who worked at the jail at 1200 Baker Street, is the first detention officer to test positive for COVID-19. The HCSO announced the first jail inmate to test positive for the disease March 29, adding that the inmate had been placed in quarantine.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County also confirmed two more positive cases among METRO staff—one Yellow Cab contractor who drove for METROLift and one METRORail cleaner.
"METRO will contact riders who were on that vehicle within 14 days of the time frame in which that contractor last worked," officials said in a statement. "Those customers should monitor themselves for possible symptoms, contact your health care provider as soon as you develop any symptoms, and self-isolate to avoid possibly exposing others, including refraining from using public transportation."
The METRORail cleaner was recently hired and had no interaction with the public, officials said.
Elsewhere, officials with the Brazos County Health District confirmed the fourth coronavirus-related death April 2, a woman her 90s who was hospitalized. The previous deaths in Brazos County included a man in his 80s on hospice care and two women—one in her 90s and one in her 80s—who were hospitalized.
Updated 6 p.m. April 1
The Montgomery County Public Health District reported the first coronavirus-related deaths in the county April 1 when two men—one in his 90s and one in his 80s—passed away.
Both men were residents of the Conservatory at Alden Bridge, for which a shelter-in-place order was previously given after 24 casis of COVID-19 were confirmed.
A total of 14 deaths have now been reported in the Greater Houston area, including four in the city of Houston, two each in Harris, Montgomery and Fort Bend counties, three in Brazos County and one in Brazoria County. Twelve of those deaths were individuals over the age of 70, according to records from each of those counties.
Meanwhile, the total case counts in the city of Houston and in Harris County continued their upward trends. After adding a combined 117 new cases March 31, the two entities reported another 167 new confirmed cases April 1. The city of Houston reported 81 new cases while the Harris County Public Health Department reported 86 new cases.
Harris County now has reported 389 total cases. However, 74 of those individuals have recovered.
Updated 5:45 p.m. March 31
The city of Houston and Harris County combined for more than 110 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in March 31 updates. The city of Houston reported 68 new cases and Harris County reported 49 new cases. The city of Houston also reported its fourth death.
In a press conference, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced the planned opening of the second city-run coronavirus testing site on April 1 at Delmar Stadium. The drive-thru site will allow the city to double its testing capacity from 250 people per day to 500 people per day, Turner said.
Turner said the city is also looking to increase how many people can be tested per day at each site, which currently have limits of 250 people per day. The existing site at Butler Stadium reached its testing limits by 2:30 p.m. on March 31, Turner said.
"Hopefully we can increase that because it’s through testing that we get a better sense as to the degree of community spread," he said.
Residents showing symptoms can call 832-393-4220 to be screened for testing.
Harris County also extended its Stay Home-Work Safe Order on March 31. The order will now run through April 30.
Posted 6 p.m. March 30
Several more coronavirus-related deaths were reported in the Greater Houston area March 30, including the first in Brazoria County, the second in Fort Bend County and the third in the city of Houston.
The Brazoria County resident was a female between the ages of 75-85 who lived in Pearland. The Fort Bend County resident was a man in his 70s who was reported to have underlying health conditions. The city of Houston resident was a woman in her 70s who also had underlying health conditions.
Fort Bend County officials also announced March 30 the opening of a county-supported testing site for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Testing will be provided free of charge, but residents can only access the test site after completing an online screening process and being deemed eligible. Testing will initially be focused on higher-risk populations, including health care professionals, first responders and people over the age of 60.
Previous reporting on coronavirus cases can be found here.
