Another 1,060 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Harris County on Nov. 23, bringing the seven-day average for new cases confirmed in the county to 1,119.7.

The seven-day average is up from about 700 per day on Nov. 7 and up from about 450 per day in mid-October. In late June, the county saw its seven-day average rise from the low 600s to more than 1,000 in one week before peaking at over 1,700 per day in early August.

Of the 1,060 cases confirmed on Nov. 23, 463 were confirmed in the city of Houston and 597 were confirmed in Harris County outside of the city.

The testing positivity rate, effective reproduction rate and number of COVID-19 patients in Harris County hospitals all continued to rise over the past week.

  • The 14-day average for testing positivity hit 9.1% based on the most recent data available from Nov. 16. That number is up from 8.2% on Nov. 9.

  • The effective reproduction rate, which tracks whether or not the spread of the virus is increasing, hit 1.32 on Nov. 22, up from a little over 1.2 the week prior. Any number over 1 means viral spread is increasing.

  • The number of COVID-19 patients in Harris County's general wards hit 591 on Nov. 23, up from 516 on Nov. 16. The number in intensive care units hit 259 on Nov. 23, up from 234 on Nov. 16. ICU beds are 90% occupied in the Texas Medical Center, not including surge capacity.


Health care officials said COVID-19 treatments have improved since the surge that took place over the summer, but officials continue to urge residents to be cautious over the holiday weekend, including by avoiding unnecessary travel and limiting gatherings to individuals who already live in the same household.

Officials from local hospital systems in Fort Bend County are also raising alarms about the increase in patients requiring hospitalization.


The case count in Harris County now stands at 183,252, with 18,184 active cases, 162,657 recovered cases and 2,398 deaths.