Weekly Amarillo COVID-19 update notes 131 new cases, 18 hospitalized

From Staff Reports
·2 min read

In the Amarillo Public Health Department's COVID-19 update, 556 cases were considered active, with no new deaths and an increase of 131 new COVID-19 cases.

According to the report card, released Wednesday due to the holiday weekend, the 131 new COVID-19 cases amount to a seven-day, new-case average of 19, with a seven-day positivity rate of 6%.

That brings the total number of cases in Potter and Randall counties to 84,661 and the total number of deaths to 1,310 since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. According to the APHD's site, a total 81,592 recoveries have been reported for the area.

The COVID-19 report card for Nov. 23, issued weekly by the Amarillo Department of Public Health.
The COVID-19 report card for Nov. 23, issued weekly by the Amarillo Department of Public Health.

Potter County's total cases since the start of the pandemic rose to 40,438, with 278 active, 39,387 recoveries and 773 deaths related to the virus.

Randall County's total COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic rose to 43,020, with 278 active, 42,205 recoveries and 537 deaths related to the virus.

The report card contains the latest data from BSA Health System, Northwest Texas Healthcare System, and Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center.

By the Centers for Disease Control standards, Potter and Randall County's community levels of COVID-19 remained low, or green as of Thursday.

The Amarillo Public Health COVID-19 Hospitalization report, also being released weekly, noted 18 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, nearly half of whom were unvaccinated. Three patients were in the ICU, all unvaccinated, with none on ventilators.

The hospitalization rate for Trauma Service Area A, which includes Potter and Randall counties and the bulk of the Texas Panhandle, was 1.22% as of this week.

Since August of 2021, 81% of COVID-19 deaths have involved unvaccinated individuals, according to the report card.

For more information on COVID-19 and the vaccine, visit amarilloalerts.com.

The city of Amarillo Public Health Department, located at 850 Martin Road, offers the new COVID bivalent booster and COVID-19 vaccines for everyone aged 5 and older. They also offer other adult and children’s vaccines to those that qualify. To learn more, go to https://www.amarillo.gov/departments/community-services/public-health.

For the complete report of all Amarillo Public Health COVID-19 data, visit amarillo.gov/coviddashboard .

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Weekly Amarillo COVID-19 update notes 131 new cases, 18 hospitalized