HOUSTON — A day after the Greater Houston area set a high mark for COVID-19 hospitalizations with 3,088, the Houston Health Department reported more than 4,300 new COVID cases on Wednesday, the most it has ever reported in a single day — but the city notes this includes some delayed data from cases dated within the last 14 days.
Editor's note: This story was edited August 19 to more clearly explain why there was a single-day spike in new cases reported
Wednesday's total included 4,344 cases dated within the past 14 days that were not included in previous updates, 956 additional backlog cases and the removal of 81 duplicates, HHD said in a tweet.
The city also reported 11 new deaths, bringing Houston's total to 3,021 people who have died from COVID.
The previous high reported by the Houston Health Department in a single day was 2,761 new cases on Aug. 4.
Hospitals in the Texas Medical Center reported Monday that 100 percent of their regular ICU beds were full. They have a phase 2 plan that turns medical and surgical beds into ICU beds. But with the nursing shortage, there’s no guarantee they can staff them. Those were 83 percent full on Monday.
RELATED: Nurse shortage at Houston hospitals has reached a breaking point as patients wait hours for care
The state says vaccinations are up, and 67 percent of Texans -- over 15.8 million people -- age 12 and up have had a least one vaccination. Nearly 55 percent, or 13.1 million, are fully vaccinated.
Here are vaccination numbers for local counties:
- Harris: 57% fully vaccinated
- Fort Bend: 69% fully vaccinated
- Montgomery: 50% fully vaccinated
- Brazoria: 54% fully vaccinated
- Galveston: 56% fully vaccinated