Harris County leaders drop COVID-19 emergency status as cases decline

As of Feb. 24, Harris County and the city of Houston combined have about 58,000 active COVID-19 cases, according to www.readyharris.org. Hospital ICU beds are at 14.65% capacity, and the county’s 14-day average positivity test rate is 10%. As of Jan. 10, when the emergency status was raised to red, the county’s COVID-19-positive ICU cases came out to 18.1%, while the positivity rate stood at 35%.

While at an orange status, county leaders urge vaccinated residents to minimize face-to-face contact and avoid medium to large gatherings, according to the Harris County COVID-19 Data Hub. Unvaccinated residents should also skip medium to large gatherings and are asked to avoid in-person contact and wear masks, officials said.

“I continue to urge folks to get vaccinated,” Hidalgo said. “Doing so will allow us to deal with COVID-19 as a manageable risk rather than an emergency that unnecessarily threatens lives and the capacity of our entire health care system.”