DALLAS — Texas health officials reported 1,144 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, along with 15 new COVID-19 cases in the state's nursing facilities and assisted living facilities.
In June, these facilities averaged six new cases a day, which is a monthly record-low since tracking began in July of 2020.
This is one of many statistics that have been declining across the state this summer.
Earlier in June, President Joe Biden announced that 300 million vaccine shots had been administered in the 150 days since he took office.
So far in Texas, 24,845,850 COVID-19 doses have been administered; 13,881,187 Texans have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose; and 11,937,756 people have been fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 cases
State health officials reported 1,144 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday. This is the 44th day in a row there have been fewer than 2,000 daily cases in the state.
Texas has had fewer than 5,000 reported cases every day since March 3. The cases have started to level off since that point.
The state's current 14-day average is 787. The record-high 14-day average happened from Jan. 4 to 17 when it was 18,915.
COVID-19 hospitalizations
On Wednesday, state health officials reported there are currently 1,502 COVID-19 hospitalizations in Texas. This is the 37th consecutive day this statistic has remained below 2,000.
The record-high number of hospitalizations happened on Jan. 11 when there were 14,218 patients in Texas hospitals.
The state currently has a 14-day average of 1,501 hospitalizations.
COVID-19 deaths
COVID-19 deaths in Texas have steadily been on the decline since late January, according to statistics gathered from the Texas Department of State Health Services.
A COVID-19 death is when a medical certifier, usually a doctor with direct knowledge of the patient, determines COVID-19 directly caused the death, according to state officials.
In July, state health officials changed their method of reporting COVID-19 deaths, saying that death certificates are required by law to be filed within 10 days.
Even so, reported COVID-19 deaths are frequently delayed. So the number of COVID-19 deaths being reported recently might not be the best reflection of where things currently stand.
COVID-19 positivity rate
As of Wednesday, the state's 7-day average COVID-19 antigen test positivity rate is 3.88%, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
While still low compared to previous record highs, this is the highest the state's positivity rate has been since Feb. 25, when it was 4.03%.
This statistic has remained between 2.04% and 3.88% since Feb. 2.
A county's positivity rate takes into account both the number of positive COVID-19 results and people tested. The 7-day average prevents outliers from impacting the results.
The state's record antigen test positivity rate happened on Jan. 3 when the rate was 13.73%.
COVID-19 long-term care cases
Long-term care facilities in Texas are continuing to see a significant decrease in COVID-19 cases, according to statistics from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
There were 15 new COVID-19 cases added in nursing facilities and assisted living facilities Thursday, health officials said. There were six new cases on Wednesday and 13 on Tuesday.
The last time there were more than 100 reported cases happened on April 23, when there were 338 cases.
In June, long-term care facilities in Texas averaged six new cases a day. This is the lowest monthly average since the state started tracking these numbers in July of 2020.
The highest monthly average happened in December when Texas long-term care facilities were averaging 614 cases a day.
