HOUSTON — After an unprecedented surge of COVID-19 cases, the number of people testing positive every day is finally starting to go down in the Houston area.
Cases in the Greater Houston area are down 17% since last week.
Harris County is seeing the biggest improvement, with new cases down more than 25%.
Brazoria County reported a 24.5% decline in cases this week, followed by Montgomery County which is down 20.4%.
Most of the counties in our area are seeing cases drop including Colorado, Waller, Galveston, Fort Bend, Wharton and Chambers counties.
A handful of rural counties are still seeing an increase, including Matagorda, Calhoun, Austin, Jackson, Liberty, Walker, Washington, Grimes, San Jacinto, Trinity and Polk Counties. Their populations are significantly smaller, so the number of new cases is smaller, too.
For example, many rural counties that are seeing an increase in cases are reporting fewer than 100 new cases a day. For perspective, more than 6,000 people tested positive in Harris County on Thursday.
Although cases are down overall for the first time since December, COVID-19 levels remain incredibly high. The number of new cases reported every day is still more than twice as high as it was during the peak of the delta surge over the summer.
Check the map here: