COVID-19 Cases On Rise In Montgomery County

CONROE, TX — The Montgomery County Public Health District reported a rise in active cases for the third straight week in its update Wednesday.

There are 1,221 active cases in the county, an increase of 412 since last week's update, and the positive test rate rose to 7 percent from 5 percent. MCPHD added 706 total cases in the update, bringing Montgomery County to 57,017 total cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

In MCPHD's June 30 update, there were 594 active cases and a 4 percent positive test rate, the most encouraging numbers in the county since June 2020. Cases and the positive rate had been falling steadily since its peak at 10,981 active cases in January.

MCPHD confirmed there are no new reinfections this week, but there were 23 reinfections in last weeks update. The Texas Department of State Health Services defines a reinfection as a case with two positive PCR tests at least 90 days apart without consecutive tests between.

Health authorities have confirmed 10 deaths with COVID-19 in the last two updates, including four more Wednesday: a Spring woman in her 50s, a Conroe woman in her 60s, a Conroe man in his 70s and a Spring man in his 90s. Since the start of the pandemic, 346 Montgomery County residents have died with COVID-19.

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The rise in active cases has come with a rise in hospitalizations as 91 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in the county, an increase of 36 since last week's update. Of those, 20 are in intensive care.

The rise in cases comes as the delta variant has become the dominant variant in the United States. Texas and Montgomery County both lag behind the national average in vaccinations. Over 57 percent of eligible people age 12 and up in the United States have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Texas Department of State Health Services data shows that 51.7 percent of eligible Texans are fully vaccinated, and that number is even lower in Montgomery County, where 47.5 percent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated.

Patch reached out for comment from County Judge Mark Keough's office and will update the story if it receives a response.