COVID-19 hospital ICU population, new cases and positivity rate trends fall below key thresholds; Hidalgo urges vaccinations to avoid another holiday spike
Judge Lina Hidalgo today announced that the county will lower the COVID-19 Threat Level Indicator from Level 1: Red to Level 2: Orange, the system’s second highest threat level. The move comes as a variety of indicators demonstrate a decrease in cases, hospitalizations, and positivity rates for COVID-19.
“Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen an encouraging drop in the number of new COVID-19 cases and our hospital population,” said Judge Hidalgo. “This didn’t happen by coincidence – it happened because of our community’s hard work to step up and increase our vaccination rates. That said, we’re not out of the woods. The decreases in our trends are slowing down while other communities are starting to see spikes, and as we learn to coexist with this virus over the long term, we can’t grow complacent. As the holidays begin to approach, we must stay vigilant to avoid another spike. The only way to do that is to get vaccinated.”
Level 2 signifies that there is still an ongoing, uncontrolled level of COVID-19 transmission in Harris County. At this level, unvaccinated residents should continue to wear masks, minimize contact with others, avoid any medium or large gatherings, and only visit permissible businesses that follow public health guidance. To date, 9,119 people in Harris County have died from COVID-19.
Unvaccinated individuals should also continue to mask, physical distance, and avoid all medium and large gatherings. During this period of high COVID-19 transmission, vaccinated individuals should wear a mask while indoors in public places, in crowded outdoor settings, and for activities with close contact with others who are not fully vaccinated.
The COVID-19 vaccine continues to be available at no charge for all Harris County residents. To find out more information, locations and hours, click here.
For a complete list of indicators, guidance, and related information visit ReadyHarris.org.