HOUSTON – New data sets shared by a consortium of Southeast Texas Hospitals, reveals a significantly higher COVID-19 “case fatality rate” in Galveston County than Harris, Fort Bend, and Brazoria counties.
The data, provided by the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council, known as SETRAC, does not provide the underlying causes of the varying death rates, but shows a large disparity between contiguous counties.
COVID-19 Fatality Rates (March 1 - April 19):
Galveston County: 3.3%
Harris County: 1.5%
Fort Bend County: 2.3%
Southeast Texas Avg.: 1.8%
Source: SETRAC
Click here to examine the data for yourself here
Galveston County’s “stay-at-home” order was issued a week after Harris County’s order, but Galveston County’s top local health official dismissed the notion that it plays a role in the higher death rate.
“There’s no correlation there, you don’t think?” Investigative reporter Joel Eisenbaum asked.
“No I don’t. I really don’t. I know we’re testing more. I know if Harris County had outbreaks in nursing homes you should ask them about that,” said Dr. Philip Keiser, with Galveston County Health Authority.
To date, 10,846 residents have been tested within Galveston County.
Harris County does not publish a similar metric, however, Channel 2 Investigates obtained the following information about the city of Houston’s two main public testing facilities:
Houston Community-Based Testing Sites:
Butler Stadium: 6,469 total tested
Delmar Stadium: 4,242 total tested
Harris County’s population dwarfs Galveston County’s population by a factor of 10, yet the two main public testing facilities in Houston, appear to be on par with Galveston County’s total number of tests, lending credence to the Dr. Keiser’s supposition.
Keiser also added that 17 of the 19 death in Galveston County were at nursing home facilities.
