Weekly COVID-19 update notes 2 new deaths, 555 new cases in Amarillo area

From Staff Reports
·2 min read

The new cases and average dipped slightly but stayed steady in the Amarillo area, according to the latest COVID-19 report card, with two new deaths reported.

The Amarillo Public Health Department's COVID-19 update notes that 2,219 cases were considered active, with an increase of 555 new COVID-19 cases over the past week in its weekly COVID-19 report card released Friday.

According to the report card, the 555 new COVID-19 cases amount to a seven-day, new-case average of 79, with a seven-day positivity rate of 16%.

That brings the total number of cases in Potter and Randall counties to 79,755 and the total number of deaths to 1,298 since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. According to the APHD's site, a total 76,338 recoveries have been reported for the area.

Potter County's total cases since the start of the pandemic rose to 38,702, with 1,125 active, 36,808 recoveries and 769 deaths related to the virus.

Randall County's total COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic rose to 41,179, with 1,119 active, 39,530 recoveries and 530 deaths related to the virus.

By the Centers for Disease Control standards, Potter County's community levels of COVID-19 were considered medium, or yellow, as of Thursday, while Randall County's community levels of COVID-19 stayed low, or green.

The Amarillo Public Health COVID-19 Hospitalization report, also being released weekly each Friday, noted 25 COVID-19 patients hospitalized. Four patients were in the ICU, three of whom were unvaccinated, and one patient who was unvaccinated was on a ventilator. Of the 25 patients hospitalized, 64 percent were unvaccinated.

The hospitalization rate for Trauma Service Area A, which includes Potter and Randall counties and the bulk of the Texas Panhandle, was 3.2% as of Thursday.

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, now located at 850 Martin Road, offers 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 .

Editor's note: Some of the numbers surrounding COVID-19 cases listed in this story are different on the weekly report card, vs. the APHD website. According to the public health department, readers can check the website for the latest updates and totals.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Weekly COVID-19 update notes 2 deaths, 555 new cases in Amarillo area