COLLIN COUNTY, Texas — Two maps show that the transmission COVID and hospitalizations are increasing in North Texas.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention created a community transmission map, which measures the level of COVID-19 spread for every county in the U.S.
The map shows all counties in North Texas are now considered "high transmission" areas, meaning COVID cases have surpassed 100 new cases per 100,000 residents over the last seven days, or the positivity rate will have exceeded 10%.
From July 19 to 25, Collin County was orange, meaning there was "substantial transmission" of COVID-19. It has since been moved to red. Collin County has the highest vaccination rate in the area, but the CDC says it looks at positivity rates and cases per 100,000 to determine the transmission level for a certain week.
For the substantial transmission areas, cases will have ranged from 50-99.9 cases per 100,000 residents and the positivity rate will have ranged from 8-9.99%.
The CDC is recommending that all people, vaccinated or not, wear masks in public indoor settings in areas of high or substantial transmission.
These other counties have also gone from orange to red for the week of July 26 to Aug. 1:
- Red River County
- Fannin County
- Clay County
- Jack County
- Archer County
- Young County
View the slider image below to see the changes. Go here to open map in new window.
These outer counties have a much lower population compared to the major four counties.
"In rural areas with low population densities, multiple counties might need to be combined to increase available data so that reliable inferences can be made," the CDC guidance says.
COVID-19 case rates and hospitalizations have been climbing for weeks across North Texas, as the delta variant has become more prevalent. Last week, Dallas County moved the county back to Level Orange on its COVID-19 threat level for unvaccinated people.
Hospitalization numbers
A map representing the last seven days shows that of the four large counties, Tarrant has the most patients with COVID at its hospitals, with 14.22%.
- Collin: 11.69%
- Denton: 9.79%
- Dallas: 8.77%
There are even higher numbers in outlying counties, like Hunt, Cooke, Hood, Johnson and Ellis counties.
- Hunt: 30.4%
- Cooke: 22.73%
- Hood: 33.33%
- Johnson: 37.14%
- Ellis: 26.78%
Vaccination rates
Collin County has the highest vaccination rate in the area with 62.57% of the eligible population fully vaccinated, according to the state dashboard.
- Denton County: 57%
- Dallas County: 52.56%
- Tarrant County: 50.77%
