BEAUMONT, Texas — One expert says the city of Beaumont may not have hit its peak of COVID-19 cases yet.
Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick shared a data analysis by a Lamar University professor who specializes in public health.
12News has been asking for demographic data from the Beaumont Health Department since March, and the numbers are now coming from Lamar professor Dr. Praphul Joshi.
He and his students have been working with the health department since March.
"This data can be analyzed and it can help with mitigation efforts," Joshi said.
The numbers show the African-American community accounts for more than half of all the cases in the city.
The oldest patient who tested positive is 94. The youngest is an infant.
On average, the age of those testing positive is 46.
"What that tells us -- is really it is equally distributed between old and young," Joshi said.
According to the numbers, the zip code hit the hardest by COVID-19 is 77707.
That's west of I-10 and 96. Ten people have died from the virus. 20 people have recovered. There are 58 active cases.
In the entire 77705 zip code, where three people have died and 17 people have recovered, there are now 32 active cases. The 77705 zip code includes the southern edge of Beaumont and a large portion of South Jefferson County including Lamar University, Taylor's Landing, LaBelle, Fannett and Cheek.
Northeast of the city, in the 77708 zip code, there have been 5 deaths. That includes the area around the mall. Nine people have recovered and there are 32 active cases there.
"Initially it was higher in the white community, but now we are seeing it higher in the African-American and the Hispanic community," Joshi said.