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COVID-19 death rate is four times higher nationally than in Houston

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Published  July 15, 2020 7:07pm CDT
Coronavirus
FOX 26 Houston

City of Houston struggles to keep COVID-19 infections low

The City of Houston announced a record amount of COVID-19 deaths. FOX 26 Reporter Ivory Hecker shares how the city is responding to this new increase.

HOUSTON - Less than one percent of Houston residents who catch coronavirus COVID-19 die of it, according to Houston Health Department data. The 0.9 percent death rate in Houston is more than four times lower than the national death rate from the virus.

On Wednesday the City of Houston reported 16 new deaths related to COVID-19, but those deaths occurred over a span of time dating back to early May. Health officials said it takes time to process cause of death information and get it to the health department for accurate reporting. The city also reported 703 new cases of the virus, but the death rate remained at the same low compared to the national rate.

Since COVID-19 first appeared in Houston in March, 295 people total have died and 32,693 people have been infected by the virus, according to health department data.

At the national level the death rate is currently 4.0 percent, with 135,991 total deaths and 3,416,428 total cases, according to the CDC.

If you include greater Harris County with Houston, the death rate is 1.0 percent, and statewide Texas has a death rate of 1.2 percent, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

We asked Houston health authority Dr. Persse about the big difference between the death rate locally and nationally.

“The reason we believe Houston’s death rate is so far behind many other locations is because, up until recently, Houstonians did a terrific job of slowing down the virus,” said Dr. David Persse with the Houston Health Department. “People are talking about this being a second wave, and I say, this isn’t a second wave. What happened back in early March: That was a ripple. What we’re experiencing now is a wave. We never had the first wave, because Houstonians did such a great job of stopping and slowing down the virus.”

If you compare the current COVID-19 death rate to the flu, CDC data shows the nationwide death rate for coronavirus is about triple the amount of flu deaths that occur in a six month period during flu season.