Total COVID-19 hospitalizations are at 1,038 in the county as of Nov. 30, according to the SETRAC, including 718 patients in general wards and 320 patients in intensive care units. Those numbers are up from 591 patients in general wards and 259 in ICUs on Nov. 23.
At the start of the month, 380 COVID-19 patients were in general wards and 183 patients were in ICUs. About 94% of Harris County ICU beds were occupied as of Nov. 30, but only 21.1% of those patients were hospitalized because of COVID-19, according to SETRAC.
Another 882 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Harris County on Nov. 30, according to the Harris County Public Health Department, including 685 new cases in the city of Houston and 197 new cases in Harris County outside of the city. The seven-day average for daily new cases hit 1,180, up from 1,119 on Nov. 23.
The 14-day average for testing positivity in Harris County hit 9.4% as of the most recent data from Nov. 22. That rate is down slightly from the 9.6% recorded Nov. 20 but up from from 9.3% one week prior. Testing positivity rates in Harris County are subject to minor changes due to lags in when testing results come back from the state.
As the rate at which new cases are confirmed continues to rise in Harris County, the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 has been steadily declining. The seven-day average for daily COVID-19 death confirmations in Harris County fell to 4.86 on Nov. 30, down from 10 on Nov. 3. A total of 34 COVID-19 deaths have been confirmed in the county over the past week.
Public health officials have warned that deaths caused by COVID-19 are a lagging indicator, meaning an increase is not likely to be seen until several weeks after a surge in new cases or hospitalizations.
The case count in Harris County now stands at 191,513, with 20,569 active cases, 168,498 recovered cases and 2,432 deaths.
