Meanwhile, the seven-day positivity rate for cases conducted in the nine-county Greater Houston area has dropped to 9% as of Aug. 7, according to the most recent data being tracked by the Texas Medical Center. The seven-day average was at 23% on Aug. 1.
The number of tests being conducted in the county was up substantially over the past few days, with 21,800 tests conducted Aug. 7 and 41,132 on Aug. 8, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. By comparison, 35,362 tests were conducted in total in Harris County over the course of the week of July 26-Aug. 1. Last week, Harris County officials announced evening testing hours and the availability of faster testing that went into effect Aug. 5.
The number of COVID-19 patients in Harris County hospitals continued to fall over the Aug. 8-9 weekend. As of Aug. 9, a total of 1,002 COVID-19 patients were in general wards and 497 patients were in intensive care units, according to the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council. Those numbers are down from Aug. 7, when they were at 1,192 and 551, respectively.
Base ICU occupancy remained completely full in Texas Medical Center ICUs as of Aug. 9, with 17% of surge capacity beds occupied.
The total number of cases in Harris County now stands at 85,757, with 35,806 of those cases considered active, 49,052 cases that have recovered and 897 cases that have died.
