The counties of the Rio Grande Valley are now considered to be at medium to low risk of COVID-19 according to a new tool rolled out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After having been determined to be at high risk last week, the updated community levels show that Hidalgo County is now at medium risk while Cameron, Starr and Willacy counties have been downgraded to low community levels.
The levels for each county are based off of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population over the previous seven days, new COVID hospital admissions per 100,000 population over those seven days, and the percent of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients during that same time period.
Overall, the Rio Grande Valley has seen a decrease in the number of cases and current hospitalizations reported on a daily basis, though counties continue to report deaths related to the disease.
In Hidalgo County, six people died due to COVID of which five were not vaccinated. The individuals included a Mission man in his 30s, a Mission woman in her 40s, and a Donna woman in her 40s. The remaining three, all over 70 years old, were residents of Edinburg and McAllen.
Their deaths raised the county’s total number of COVID-related deaths to 3,867.
The county also reported 97 new cases which included 61 confirmed and 36 suspected cases.
There have now been a total of 194,981 recorded cases among county residents including 126,609 confirmed cases, 65,211 probable, and 3,161 suspected.
Among Cameron County residents, there was one COVID-related death reported on Thursday which raised their total number of COVID deaths to 2,220. The individual, a Brownsville man over 90 years old, was not vaccinated.
Cameron County health officials also reported 18 new positive cases which includes 13 confirmed through PCR tests and five from rapid antigen tests.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have also continued their decline throughout the Valley, dropping to 94 patients on Wednesday, a low last seen in December, according to data posted by the Texas Department of State Health Services, or DSHS.
Just in Hidalgo County, hospitalizations had dropped to 63 from the 66 the county reported on Wednesday.
Using reported data, the CDC calculates and updates the community levels every Thursday.
The CDC says the new tool is meant to help communities determine what preventative steps to take based on the latest available data.
Under a medium community level, people who are at high risk for severe illness are advised to speak with their healthcare providers about what precautions to take.
People within those communities are also advised to stay up to date with their vaccinations and get tested if they have symptoms of COVID-19.
Residents of a county with a low community level are also advised to be vaccinated and get tested if they show symptoms.
