How severe is COVID-19 in your Texas county? New map tool lets users easily find info

Texas hit all-time highs in new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations this week as the pandemic surges in the state.

But how severe is the outbreak in your county?

A new resource released Wednesday lets users search information about the threat of COVID-19 and new cases in every county in the United States.

The Harvard Global Health Institute and other medical experts created the tracker to help residents and governments make informed decisions while navigating the pandemic.

“The public needs clear and consistent information about COVID risk levels in different jurisdictions for personal decision-making, and policy-makers need clear and consistent visibility that permits differentiating policy across jurisdictions,” Danielle Allen, director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, said in a news release.

How the map works

The map uses four colors to illustrate risk levels in every county: green, yellow, orange and red. It uses the number of new cases a day per 100,000 people over the past seven days to determine the appropriate risk category.

The map will change daily as new data are uploaded into the tracker.

Here’s what each color means:

• Green: Less than one case a day per 100,000 people and containment is on track. Use contact tracing and testing to monitor.

• Yellow: One to nine cases a day per 100,000 people, indicating community spread and the need for rigorous testing and tracing.

• Orange: Ten to 24 cases a day per 100,000 people, showing “accelerated spread,” and stay-at-home orders are advised.

• Red: Twenty-five or more a day cases per 100,000 people, meaning the county is at a “tipping point” and stay-at-home orders are necessary.

You can find the tool by clicking here.

Which Texas counties are highest risk?

In Texas, the statewide risk level on Wednesday was orange, with about 18 new cases a day per 100,000 people from June 22-28.

Twenty-three counties in the state fall in the red category with the highest risk. Most notably among the list is Harris County, which includes Houston. However, 22 counties have a higher number of cases per capita.

Brewster County, a large rural county in southwest Texas, has reported a spike in cases this week, and hundreds of tests were awaiting results, KMID reported. The county is now requiring face masks in public, the news outlet reported.

It has the seventh highest risk in the country, according to the resource.

Tarrant and Dallas counties were in the orange category with about 13 and 17 new cases a day per 100,000 people, respectively.

A look across the U.S.

Across the country, Arizona (42.2), Florida (29.1) and Mississippi (25.4) ranked highest in new cases per 100,000 people, and each state was in the red category.

Another 13 states — mostly in the South and West — were in the orange category. South Carolina, Georgia, California, North Carolina and Idaho are among the states.

Only two states — Vermont and Hawaii — were in the low-risk green category with one new case per 100,000 people.

“Unless and until there is a whole of government response, with measurable progress communicated similarly and regularly across every state and locality, U.S. leaders will be left to react to the chaos of the virus — rather than being able to more effectively target interventions to suppress it,” Beth Cameron, vice president for global biological policy and programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, said in a statement about the Harvard resource.