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State, local positivity rates falling in the state of Texas
Hospitalization rates and positivity rates are falling. FOX 26's Tiffany Justice has more.
HOUSTON - Dr. Peter Hotez, with Baylor College of Medicine says he is seeing a parallel decrease in hospitalizations rates and the positivity rate.
“One of the good things we’re starting to see in Houston and Harris County, the numbers are trending in a better direction. Hospitalizations at the Medical Center are clearly going down. And it’s the first time it’s being parallel by the number of new cases,” says Dr. Hotez, Baylor College of Medicine.
The positivity rate was in the high 20 percent range for several weeks in Houston, but we are now at 16 percent.
Governor Abbott released new statewide numbers yesterday saying the positivity rate is now at 11 percent.
MORE: Texas COVID-19 hospitalizations fell below 6,000 Wednesday
Dr. Hotez says these lower numbers are a good change.
“Most of the summer it's been around 14-hundred new cases a day in Harris county.
and that’s always an underestimate by a factor of between 5 or 10 so it probably means more like 7 to 8-thousand new cases per day.”
The Houston Health Department has set the positivity rate goal for the city to be at 5 percent.
Dr. Hotez does not fully agree with the 5 percent goal and believes it’s still too high.
“We often hear that 5-percent number and I'm not buying it… I think we really need to go way down below that.”
He believes the positivity rate should be around 1 Percent, 1 new case per 100,000 residents.
Right now, Dr. Hotez is concerned for teachers and students.
"The big question everybody wants to know is, is it low enough? Significant decline in community transmission where we can open up in-person class yet, K-12, and I would say we’re not there yet."
Baylor College of Medicine is working on a vaccine. They will start clinical testing should start early as next month with the vaccine ready to be administered by early next year.
MORE: Phase 3 of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine trial to begin at Baylor College of Medicine