Public health officials confirmed 1,535 new cases of COVID-19 in Harris County July 7, including 1,060 cases in the city of Houston and 475 in Harris County outside of the city.

The combined total is the second largest number of new cases to be reported in a single day in the county, behind the 1,994 cases reported June 22, a total that included two days' worth of data from the city of Houston.

The seven-day testing positivity rate in the nine-county Greater Houston area is around 11%, according to data being tracked by the Texas Medical Center, down from 15% one week ago but significantly higher than early June, when the positivity rate hovered between 3-5%. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has previously said any testing positivity rate over 10% is cause for alarm.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Harris County intensive care units increased to 710 on July 7, up from 690 on July 6 and 564 one week ago on June 30. The number of COVID-19 patients in both ICUs and general ward beds both hit new highs in the county July 7.

The base ICU capacity continues to be fully occupied in the Texas Medical Center, with another 32 of the 373 surge capacity beds occupied as of July 7. TMC officials project those 373 beds to be fully occupied by July 18 based on current trends, at which point another 504 temporary surge beds would be activated.