Good news cannot remain long. New COVID-19 cases were starting to decline. Then, because of an administrative error, another 13,875 new COVID-19 cases were added to the totals in Houston.
Harris County – General
Yesterday, a total of 14,687 new coronavirus cases were added in Texas, most of them in Harris County (Houston, Texas). (https://bit.ly/362YJli) Why? Administrative backlog. The accurate numbers show 341 additional new COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks and 424 additional new COVID-19 cases from two weeks to four weeks ago. Over 13,000 new COVID-19 new cases were finally reported that occurred over 30 days ago.
Better or Worse Off?
The article did not say how many weeks or months of backlog were accounted for with these 15,000 new COVID-19 cases. It did reference similar updates in the past when backlogs were cleared, especially with the seven-day positivity rate.
Add 15,000 new COVID-19 cases without adjusting any hospitalizations or daily deaths and I believe that the extra number reflects a more positive picture of the situation in Texas. There were no spikes in either hospitalizations or daily deaths in the past four weeks. It takes about 21 days to have a death with or by COVID-19 reported.
Harris County – COVID-19 Statistics
(https://bit.ly/32Yd80i) shows COVID-19 data for Harris County. A little over 139,000 total COVID-19 cases reported since the beginning of this pandemic. Nearly 120,000 people have recovered and 1,746 deaths with or by COVID-19 have been reported. Almost 18,000 are classified as active cases. Most of those active cases are self-quarantined at home.
Harris County – Hospitalizations
(https://bit.ly/3kJRB1y) portrays the daily hospitalizations for the Texas Medical Center in Harris County. From early July until late August the number of COVID-19 admissions has plummeted from a daily average of 350-400 to an average of less than a hundred. There was a slight uptick in early September and then stabilized around 70 admissions per day.
ICU beds in Harris County are in Phase 1 with current usage around 1,200. That leaves another 100+ plus available ICU beds. However, only 154 of those ICU beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients. The average stay for a COVID-19 patient is around six to nine days.
Harris County – Daily Deaths
(https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/usa/texas/) shows that yesterday 13 deaths with or by COVID-19 were reported. Today’s deaths with or by COVID-19 17 for Harris County
Conclusion
Yes, administrative errors occur, sometimes at inopportune times. An automated system was installed to prevent this type of error.
Is there really a COVID-19 problem in Harris County, home of Houston, Texas? Over 4.7 million people live in Harris County. We are averaging less than a dozen and a half deaths with or by COVID-19 daily. Not much to shout about regarding peril and doom.
154 COVID-19 patients are occupying ICU beds out of over 4.7 million people. I am not saying there is not a COVID-19 problem in Harris County. I am saying that it is not a serious problem. People are protecting themselves and their businesses.
Early COVID-19 deaths included people who died with COVID-19 and not because of it. The death statistics are skewed with more deaths attributed to COVID-19 than really are. It may be too late to ever fix that issue. I believe that real daily deaths directly because of COVID-19 would show that things are much lower on the stress totem pole than is reported.
Hospitalizations appear to be accurate and maintained daily. Overall testing is averaging between 15,000 and 20,000 people per day. The positive test rate is undeterminable because backlog figures were added recently, and it is impossible to extract an accurate COVID-19 positivity rate.
Harris County is surrounded by seven other counties representing over 7.1 million people. The highest COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and daily deaths occur inside Harris County. I consider this part of Texas to be safe if you protect yourself and your family.
Live Longer & Enjoy Life! – Red O’Laughlin – RedOLaughlin.com
