BEAUMONT, Texas — Southeast Texas could soon be on the verge of scaling back to Phase II reopening policies as hospitalizations in the area surge to levels not seen since July, according to tracking by the SouthEast Texas Regional Advisory Council.
16 percent of all hospitalizations in Trauma Service Area R, which includes Jefferson, Orange, Newton, Jasper, Hardin, Liberty, Chambers, Galveston and Brazoria Counties, are patients with either confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19. That is above the 15% threshold outlined by Governor Greg Abbott when the state moved from Phase II to Phase III reopening in September.
If the counties in TSA R remain above 15% for seven consecutive days, the area would be forced to scale back capacity in restaurants, bars and public buildings, according to Gov. Abbott's executive order.
"When Covid hospitalizations are high, it means that the spread of Covid is excessive in a particular region and that corrective action is needed," Abbott said in a news conference on September 17.
The surge is in part to an alarming number of hospitalizations in Jefferson County. 24% of all hospitalizations in the county have either tested positive for Covid-19 or show multiple symptoms, including 99 patients in general beds and 40 patients in ICU beds.
In Jefferson County, more than half of all patients in the ICU are Covid-19 patients, according to SETRAC. Last week, Jefferson County filled all 86 ICU beds and reached surge capacity.
''We are at our highest level of general bed usage by Covid patients that we have seen for the last several months," Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick told 12News. "There was definitely a pretty dramatic increase of the number of positive cases last week, and it was of concern."
If the area is forced to scale back to Phase II, restaurant capacity would be capped at 50% and bars that make at least half of their sales from alcohol would have to return to 'to-go' orders only.
The rising number of hospitalizations comes as the state sees rising fatalities linked to Covid-19. On Monday, Texas surpassed 20,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths, the second highest death county in the U.S. behind New York, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Texas is also the 22nd highest per capita for deaths at 69.7 deaths per 100,000 people.
Locally, Newton County's fatality rate is at 40% for cases over the past month. They remain the highest in TSA R. Jasper County's fatality rate is at 10%, the only county to see double-digit rates.
TSA R Fatality Rate (Oct. 14-Nov. 14)
- Newton County: 40%
- Jasper County: 10%
- Liberty County: 7.9%
- Hardin County: 6&
- Jefferson County: 1.7%
- Orange County: 1.5%
- Brazoria County: 1.2%
- Chambers County: 0.8%
- Galveston County: 0.5%
Branick tells 12News that the virus is so widespread in Jefferson County that contact tracers are having a difficult time pinpointing where most of the cases are stemming from. But, Branick says it is clear that most cases can be traced from large gatherings over the last couple of weeks.
