El Paso County's COVID cases fall 32.1%; Texas cases fall 8.8%
Texas reported 53,874 new cases of coronavirus in the week ending Sunday, down 8.8% from the previous week. The previous week had 59,059 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Texas ranked 20th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 10.8% from the week before, with 654,873 cases reported. With 8.71% of the country's population, Texas had 8.23% of the country's cases in the past week. Across the country, 16 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
John Hopkins University has been collecting data from Texas on an erratic schedule, skewing week-to-week comparisons.
El Paso County reported 1,387 cases and four deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 2,043 cases and seven deaths.
On Monday, the city of El Paso reported 247 new cases, raising the total to 279,770. No new deaths were reported, leaving the total at 3,567. Officials said 75 patients were hospitalized, with 13 in intensive care and three on ventilators. Updated numbers can be seen at epstrong.org/results.php, which is updated daily.
​ Across Texas, cases fell in 130 counties, with the best declines in Williamson County, with 0 cases from 1,060 a week earlier; in Tarrant County, with 4,299 cases from 5,355; and in Harris County, with 7,341 cases from 8,348. ​
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
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Within Texas, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Loving County with 2,367 cases per 100,000 per week; Jim Hogg County with 808; and Edwards County with 518. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Adding the most new cases overall were Harris County, with 7,341 cases; Dallas County, with 5,338 cases; and Bexar County, with 4,629. Weekly case counts rose in 107 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Dallas, Collin and Smith counties.
In Texas, 192 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 223 people were reported dead.
A total of 7,812,221 people in Texas have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 90,182 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 94,190,979 people have tested positive and 1,043,840 people have died.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
Texas's COVID-19 hospital admissions falling
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Aug. 28. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
Last week: 5,395
The week before that: 5,676
Four weeks ago: 6,785
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
Last week: 66,008
The week before that: 66,216
Four weeks ago: 72,118
Hospitals in 20 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 21 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 25 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso County reported 1,387 additional COVID-19 cases this week
