Montgomery County reports decline in active COVID-19 cases, new hospitalizations and deaths Jan. 28-29

Montgomery County's active COVID-19 case count dropped by several hundred Jan. 29 following a brief midweek increase, as several new resident hospitalizations and deaths related to the disease were reported.

Information from the Montgomery County Public Health District showed 6,040 COVID-19 cases were active in the county as of Jan. 29, more than a 16% decrease over the previous day's total and the lowest active case count reported in the county since Dec. 18.

Nearly 700 new COVID-19 cases were added to the county's cumulative case total Jan. 28-29, all of whom tested positive after Jan. 14, according to the health district. The county has now identified 39,241 COVID-19 cases since last March, including 18,338—46.73%—that have clinically recovered. As of Jan. 29, the status of 14,652 cases, representing more than one third of the total count, is unknown. Those cases are designated as inactive, which means that the public health district was unable to contact the individuals within 30 days of their initial case report.

Fatalities in the county related to COVID-19 continued to climb Jan. 28-29, with four new county resident deaths reported including New Caney and Magnolia men in their 50s and 70s and women from Spring and Conroe in their 60s and 70s. A total of 211 county resident deaths related to COVID-19 have now been reported.

Resident hospitalizations also increased slightly through the end of this week, to 84 as of Jan. 29, according to health district information, just shy of the record 85 resident hospitalizations reported Jan. 25.

The total number of general beds in use countywide, regardless of patients' residence, also fell through the end of the week, according to data from the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council. The number of general beds in use for confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients also fell, to 186 of the 985 total beds used in county facilities as of Jan. 29.

The county's overall ICU bed usage and ICU bed usage for COVID-19 patients both rose slightly through the end of the week. As of Jan. 29, 167 of the county's 174 operational ICU beds were inn use including 56 COVID-19 patients.