The likelihood of people testing positive for COVID-19 in the Brazos Valley continues to increase.
For the week of 6/6-6/12, Brazos County saw it’s highest positivity rate for COVID-19 at nearly 10 percent. It was also the second-highest number of tests completed in a week since the pandemic began with 1,550.
Saturday, Jun. 13 the health district reported a total of 60 positive cases in Brazos County, the highest number so far.
Sunday and Monday, the health district reported an additional 40 positive cases which brought the total number of active cases in the county to 500.
“I can tell you there are many more coming," said Dr. Seth Sullivan, the alternative health authority with the Brazos County Health District. "We have a challenge keeping up with the number of cases being faxed in right now.”
The health district said about 80 percent of the cases in the past week were community spread. As this number continues to rise, it is not just health officials that are urging people to follow safety guidelines.
“I mean our concern all along has been that the hospitals could be overwhelmed, so I still want to encourage everyone to do all of the things that we’ve asked all along, the social distancing, washing your hands and not touching your face," said Brazos County Judge, Duane Peters.
Brazos County currently has 20 people hospitalized, but the health district said that number is higher.
"We talk about our area, Bryan-College Station, as being a draw area for hospitals through the whole Brazos Valley," Sullivan said.
The number of positive or suspected patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Brazos County is actually at 37.
The Brazos County Health District reports local hospitals are using about 50-60 percent of its medical-surgical beds and using around 25-30 percent of its ICU beds. However, these numbers are constantly changing because people are being discharged at any time of the day.
Gov. Abbott is mandating that all hospitals must maintain hospital bed capacity at 85 percent.
“As it stands right now we have that capacity, but my concern is these next two weeks and so do our administrators and our physicians in town," Sullivan said. "We will be continuing to pay close attention to that.”