HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Judge Lina Hidalgo announced Thursday that the COVID threat level for Harris County has been lowered from red to orange. This comes more than a month after the level was raised back to red.
According to Hidalgo's office, the decision is in response to the lower counts of positive COVID-19 cases and ICU populations due to the virus.
Around 170 new cases of the virus were reported on the county COVID dashboard for Feb. 23. For Jan. 11, the day Harris County went back to level red, the dashboard recorded over 9,000 new cases.
“The omicron wave hit Harris County very, very hard,” said Judge Hidalgo. “In fact, only now have our hospitalization rates dropped to levels that don’t immediately threaten the capacity of our healthcare system."
What does that mean for Harris County?
According to the county dashboard site, the orange threat level (level 2) signals a "significant and uncontrolled level of COVID-19," meaning the virus is still spreading. For the red level (level 1), the virus would show to be at a "severe and uncontrolled level" with strong COVID outbreaks.
Under Level 2, county officials recommend that unvaccinated residents continue to wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid larger groups. They also recommend that fully vaccinated residents keep wearing masks when in public places, crowded outdoor settings and when in close contact with people that aren't vaccinated.
"While we’re moving in the right direction, there are no guarantees we won’t see another wave in the future," said Judge Hidalgo. "My hope is that the on-demand availability of vaccines and treatments will help us to avoid another dangerous spike."
Editor's Note: The following video was uploaded Jan. 12, 2022