HOUSTON — Cases of COVID-19 are rising quickly in Texas, according to the Department of State Health Services.
Wednesday, DSHS reported 9,048 cases in a single day. The last time Texas saw that many cases in a day was on August 4, when the worst of the pandemic was just beginning to decline.
In September, Texas reported 99,292 cases, an average of 3,309 cases each day.
In October, the state reported 134,554 cases, an average of 4,340 cases each day.
Through the first four days of November, Texas is averaging 6,089 cases a day.
Houston and Harris County are not seeing as dramatic of an increase, according to data from the city and county's collective COVID-19 dashboard.
Thursday, the Houston Health Department reported 302 cases, of which 211 have specimen collection dates within the last 14 days. The Health Department includes those qualifications to give the public a more clear picture of what the current level of infection is in the community.
Mayor Sylvester Turner tweeted that the positivity rate in the city is back up to 6.7 percent for the weeks of October 28 and October 21 compared to 6.0 percent the week of October 16 and 5.6 percent the week of October 9.
Turner said cases and hospitalizations are up too, for the first time since the summer surge.
“This should concern all of us, especially as we enter the holiday season," said Mayor Turner. "We don't want to go back to where we were in June, July, and August."
“We can potentially – not potentially – absolutely stop it from happening by doing what we’ve done two times before," said Dr. David Persse, Houston Health Authority.
Dr. Persse said the number one group you are most likely to infect is your family, and urged that people also get a flu shot so as not to mistake symptoms of the COVID-19 as "just the flu."
In September, 3,759 cases with specimen collections within the last 14 days in Harris Co (excluding Houston), an average of 125 cases a day. In October, the county reported 6,071, an average of 195 cases a day.
In the City of Houston, there were 3,593 cases with specimen collections within the last 14 days in September, an average of 119 cases a day. In October, the city reported 6,421 with specimen collections within the last 14 days, an average of 207 new cases a day.
"We have the power and the responsibility to work together to keep businesses and schools open and protect vulnerable populations. The message remains the same. We all know what to do, and that's mask up, social distance, wash your hands, and get tested, tested, tested."
Turner held up a mask during a news conference Thursday afternoon.
"This is our vaccine. For now, this is the vaccine. This vaccine does work," he said.