The outbreak in Texas

This week’s COVID-19 digest

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines for travel recently, opening up the option for vaccinated Americans to plan domestic vacations this summer, but mandating vaccinations for travelers has continued to be a hot-button issue.

Here in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order Tuesday that bans state agencies from requiring “vaccine passports” – digital or printed documents that verify a person’s vaccination records. Abbott is the second governor to do so after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a similar order the previous week.

More than 8.8 million people now have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is nearly 40 percent of the population 16 and older. More than 5.2 million Texans are now fully vaccinated, nearly a quarter of the state’s population aged 16 and older.

Abbott's announcement came as the number of vaccinated Texans continues to increase. But new outbreaks are still cropping up across the state. On the same day as Abbott’s order, Humble Independent School District reported 96 active cases among students, as well as 34 active cases among its staff.

In Harris County, 1.3 million people have received at least one vaccine dose. More than 781,000 people are now fully vaccinated, and more than 2 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in the county.

And while the Astros returned to the city for their home opener on Thursday, a new study published by the Lancet shows an increased number of infections in areas around NFL stadiums that hosted games open to fans in the 2020-2021 season.

Even with the state opening for business, cases continue to decline. Texas reported 22,739 new COVID cases, a decline from last week and the sixth straight week with a decline in the number of new cases. There were 470 newly reported deaths in Texas, the lowest weekly death toll since the week of July 10, 2020.

There are 2,866 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 statewide, and the number of hospitalizations remained below 3,000 all week.

The positive test rate has climbed in recent days and now is at 5.66 percent.