Harris County replacing COVID threat levels with new system that emphasizes cases

County Judge Lina Hidalgo urges the public to receive COVID-19 vaccine booster during a press conference Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, at The Health Museum in Houston. Hidalgo also talked about the health budget for the county.

Hidalgo said the threat level system had been an important tool for gauging risk throughout the pandemic. It had been updated before, but this week's changes represent a"wholesale redesign," she said. The new system places a greater emphasis on new cases than the old one, but it still considers the number of people who are being hospitalized or admitted to an ICU with COVID-19, Hidalgo said.

The availability of the COVID-19 vaccines and updated boosters that offer better protection against omicron and its BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants have also helped Harris County reach a stage where it could revamp its assessment system, Hidalgo said. Hospitals and pharmacies began offering the new boosters earlier this month, and Harris County Public Health is now distributing them through its mobile vaccination sites, Hidalgo said.

The amount of virus detected at the city of Houston’s wastewater treatment plants, which has been a reliable indicator of community spread, is also down from a spike during the BA.5 wave. Last week, the viral load was 345 percent higher than a baseline established two years ago. During the week of July 11, viral loads were 927 percent higher than the baseline.

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Harris County replacing COVID threat levels with new system that emphasizes casesHarris County has revamped its method for assessing the public’s risk for contracting COVID-19, replacing the threat level system that has been in place since early in the pandemic with a community level system that places a greater emphasis on new cases. It. Is. Over. Has been. StopTheCovidCult
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