Harris County coronavirus count: Testing positivity rate approaches target set by Texas Medical Center

Another 838 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Harris County on Aug. 31, including 158 new cases in the city of Houston and 680 new cases in Harris County outside of the city.

The seven-day rolling average for new cases confirmed per day ticked up slightly Aug. 31, but several different gauges of the testing positivity rate showed numbers continued to drop. The Texas Medical Center, which has been tracking the positivity rate within its hospital system, reported the positivity rate fell below 6% on Aug. 30, approaching a target goal of less than 5%, which officials said needs to be maintained for 14 consecutive days to demonstrate community control of the virus.

Meanwhile, the city of Houston reported that the positivity rate within the city fell to 7.8% as of Aug. 27, down from 9.8% on Aug. 20 and 20% at the end of July.

Keep up the good work, #Houston! Reducing the city's postivity rate from 20% to 7.8% in a month is remarkable progress, but we must keep going! #WashHands, #WearAMask, #SocialDistance and #GetTested to continue driving it down. #BetterTogether #TodosJuntosMejor #hounews pic.twitter.com/3NFG6x5Saz

Another 16 deaths attributed to the coronavirus were confirmed in Harris County Aug. 31. The total case count in the county now stands at 106,595, with 16,029 active cases, 89,229 recovered cases and 1,335 deaths.

The number of patients in Harris County hospitals fell slightly on Aug. 31, with general ward totals staying the same and intensive care unit totals falling from 276 on Aug. 30 to 260 on Aug. 31, according to the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council.