COVID-19 Active Cases Spiking In Montgomery County

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX — Active cases of COVID-19 have more than doubled in Montgomery County in a week, and the positive test rate jumped to 12 percent, the Montgomery County Public Health District reported in its weekly update Wednesday.

The county now has 2,435 active cases, more than 1,200 more than last week. The new rise in cases comes as the delta variant sweeps across the United States, causing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change its guidance on masks Tuesday. The CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors in counties of substantial or high transmission. According to the CDC, Montgomery County is an area of high transmission.

MCPHD also reported six new deaths in the county: a New Caney woman in her 40s, a Magnolia man in his 60s, a Porter man in his 60s, a Spring man in his 70s, a Splendora woman in her 80s and a woman from The Woodlands in her 90s. In Montgomery County, 352 people have died with COVID-19.

There were 1,642 new cases added to the county’s total in this week’s update, bringing the tally to 58,659 cases since the start of the pandemic. There are 158 hospitalizations in Montgomery County, an increase of 67, with 37 in intensive care.

Active cases had been on a downward trend since January, reaching a 12-month low of 594 active cases on June 30. With the delta variant becoming dominant in the United States, active cases have increased four-fold during the month of July.

For the first time since April, Montgomery County saw a weekly increase in the number of vaccine doses administered for the week of July 19 through July 25, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services. That week, 6,774 people in Montgomery County received a vaccine shot, up from 5,495 doses the prior week.

According to DSHS, 48.16 percent of eligible residents age 12 and older in Montgomery County are fully vaccinated with just over 57 percent having received one dose. Across Texas, 52.44 percent of people 12 and older are fully vaccinated.

How to get vaccinated

DSHS has set up a public vaccination website to help Texans register for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment close to them. To schedule an appointment, click here.

National pharmacies Walgreens and CVS also are distributing the vaccine across the country. To check availability in your area and register for a vaccine, click here for CVS and here for Walgreens.

For more information on vaccination locations throughout Texas, click here.