The number of active COVID-19 cases in Montgomery County continued to rise through October, reaching highs not seen since July amid an ongoing, steady increase from late summer into fall.
The county's active case count rose more than 55% through October, from 1,508 on Sept. 30 to 2,344 on Oct. 30, the final day last month that the Montgomery County Public Health District released a daily case report. That climb follows an active case jump of 26% in September.
COVID-19 hospitalizations among county residents doubled last month, from 18 at the end of September to 36 Oct. 30.
Total COVID-19 hospitalizations at Montgomery County hospitals also increased through October, according to regional information from the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council. The month began with a total of 37 confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients in county hospitals and ended with 76. ICU bed use for COVID-19 patients held relatively steady through October, according to SETRAC, with 18 recorded Oct. 1 and 17 on Oct. 31.
The overall pace of new COVID-19 cases identified in the county continued through October, with a total of 3,065 cases added to the county's cumulative count Oct. 1-30, a 27.63% increase since the end of September.
That count included some cases that had tested positive earlier in the year and were first reported at the state level before being logged locally. With those earlier cases removed, 2,407 new cases were identified in October only, according to public health district data. By the end of October, 14,157 COVID-19 cases had been recorded among county residents.
Clinical recoveries from COVID-19 also continued to rise last month alongside a rising number of "inactive" cases—those the health district was unable to contact for 30 days. A total of 1,507 resident recoveries were added through October, leaving the county's confirmed recovery rate at more than 63% Oct. 30, while the number of inactive cases grew by 708 last month to a total of 2,697.
Following a span from July through September during which the county averaged more than one death related to COVID-19 per day, a total of 14 resident deaths related to the disease were counted in October. According to the health district, the deaths were recorded among people between their 30s and 90s who resided throughout the county. As of Oct. 30, a total of 154 resident deaths related to COVID-19 had been recorded in Montgomery County.
Below are daily figures for total new cases and deaths reported in Montgomery County through October.
