The Texas Medical Center reported a surge in new weekly average coronavirus cases March 28. (Courtesy St. Luke’s Health/Emily Jaschke)
After a month long trend of consistent weekly declines in new coronavirus cases, the Greater Houston area saw a sharp increase between March 22-27, according to new data from the Texas Medical Center.
However, the dramatic rise in cases was caused by a delay in reporting by a Houston-area lab resulting in the reporting of thousands of cases going back to Jan. 1, 2021, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Just under 2,600 new cases were reported by the TMC between March 22-27, up from 315 new cases reported between March 14-20.
The medical center’s report did not show major changes to other important metrics; new hospitalizations, testing positivity rates and the capacity within the center’s intensive care units all continued to decline. New COVID-19-related hospitalizations fell to 85 patients, fewer than last week’s 102 hospitalizations, according to TMC data.
About 62.4% of Harris County residents are fully vaccinated, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
