2022-02-05
After adding over 2,974,000 new cases throughout the last week, the U.S. now has more than 74.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been more than 880,000 COVID-19-related deaths — the highest death toll of any country.
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New cases continue to rise, albeit at a slowing rate. In the past week, there were an average of 165.5 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — a decrease from the week prior, when there were an average of 235.2 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people.
While COVID-19 has spread to nearly every part of the country, cities continue to be the sites of major outbreaks. Experts agree that the virus is more likely to spread in group settings where large numbers of people routinely have close contact with one another, such as colleges, nursing homes, bars, and restaurants. Metropolitan areas with a high degree of connectivity between neighborhoods and a large population may be particularly at-risk.
Find out what’s happening in Houston with free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, metro area consists of Harris County, Fort Bend County, Montgomery County, and six other counties. In the past week, there were an average of 102.8 new coronavirus cases every day per 100,000 Houston residents, less than the national figure. The metro area’s average daily case growth in the most recent week is a decrease from the week prior, when there was an average of 278.3 daily new cases per 100,000 Houston residents.
The spread of coronavirus depends on a variety of factors and can vary even between neighboring counties. Within the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metro area, COVID-19 is growing the fastest in Galveston County. There were an average of 135.6 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in Galveston County during the past week, the most of the nine counties in Houston with available data.
Case growth in the Houston metro area varies at the county level. In Waller County, for example, there were an average of 81.8 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in the past week — the least of any county in Houston and more than the case growth rate in Galveston County.
Just as Galveston County is driving the growth of COVID-19 in the Houston area, it also has the highest incidence of cases overall. As of February 3, there were a total of 27,259.6 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in Galveston County, the most of the nine counties in the metro area. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported 23,032.9 cases per 100,000 Americans nationwide.
The pandemic has led to the closure of thousands of consumer-facing businesses around the country. These changes have led to widespread job loss and record unemployment. In Galveston County, unemployment peaked at 15.7% in April 2020. As of June 2021, the county’s unemployment rate was 7.6%.
To determine the county in every metropolitan area where COVID-19 is growing the fastest, 24/7 Wall St. compiled and reviewed data from state and local health departments. We ranked counties according to the average number of new daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the seven days ending February 3. To estimate the incidence of COVID-19 at the metropolitan level, we aggregated data up from the county level using boundary definitions from the U.S. Census Bureau. Population data used to adjust case and death totals came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey and are five-year estimates. Unemployment data is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and is not seasonally adjusted.
These are all the counties in Texas where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).
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This story was originally published by 24/7 Wall St., a news organization that produces real-time business commentary and data-driven reporting for state and local markets across the country.
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