BEAUMONT, Texas — Is the curve flattening?
Are face masks working?
Those are questions a lot of people in Southeast Texas are asking after new COVID-19 cases saw a four-day decline that was well below the 14-day moving average of 171 cases.
The decline in new cases follows a three-day stretch of historic highs for the area. On July 8, Southeast Texas saw 497 new cases in a single day. The next day saw another 317 cases.
But on Friday, July 10, a dramatic dip. Only 142 new cases for all of Southeast Texas. And the news was even better on Sunday and Monday where 31 and 82 new cases were reported.
The rising in the 14-day moving average is showing signs of flattening.
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But is it a trend? And is it because of the face mask ordinance that went into effect in Jefferson County on June 24 and the statewide mandate that started July 3?
Déjà vu?
It's too early to say for sure, medical experts say. But local officials tell 12News they are "hopeful".
We've seen a flattening before followed by those historic increases. Officials tell 12News testing on the weekends are dramatically lower than during the week, so any real inferences drawn from the average number of cases will come later this week if the lower reporting continues.
And officials warn that we have not seen any potential surges from July 4th gatherings. Despite local beaches being closed, there were still a number of 4th of July.
The good news, one medical expert says, is that statewide numbers are also seeing a slight drop. But they also warn these numbers don't account for any surges we may experience from the 4th of July.
Hospital Surge
And doctors say that no matter what the case trend is, Southeast Texas is not out of the woods. Hospitalizations are still well above average in Jefferson County.
There are 162 people in a Jefferson County hospital (as of July 13). That includes 117 in inpatient beds and 45 in ICU beds.
The 14-day average for inpatient beds is 84 and 34 for ICU.
Hospitalizations across have set records almost consistently since June 1. Then there were 1,756 Texans in the hospital with COVID-19. As of July 13, there were 10,005 people in the hospital across Texas.
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