CDC data contradicts Julián Castro’s claims in Texas COVID-19

COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Texas, but it does not have the “highest COVID positivity rate and number of cases in the country” – contrary to what Democrat Julián Castro recently tweeted.

castro, former mayor of San Antonio and secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Obama administration, highlighted the situation in Texas in a July 15 tweet criticizing Republican state governor Greg Abbott.

Greg Abbott spends every minute trying to get his Voter Suppression Bill through.

Meanwhile, Texas has the highest COVID positivity rate and number of cases in the country. Hospitalizations are up 75% since the end of June.

Do your job, @GregAbbott_TX.

-Julian Castro (@JulianCastro) July 15, 2021

Castro was right about the percentage increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in Texas, which, according to state government data, fell from a recent low of 1,428 on June 27 to 2,519 on July 14, the day before its tweet was sent. Hospitalizations in the state continued to increase in the days that followed, reaching 3,046 on July 18. That’s a 113% increase since June 27.

However, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contradicts its claims that Texas has the highest test positivity rate and number of cases.

The positivity of the seven-day test in Texas was between 8% and 9.9%, according to CDC data compiled as of July 15. This is the percentage of nucleic acid amplification tests, or NAATs, for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, that have come back positive.

At least four states – Louisiana, Arizona, Kansas, and Mississippi – were in the same percentage range as Texas. And at least five other states – Arkansas, Florida, Utah, Nevada and Oklahoma – had a test positivity range of 10% to 14.9%.

Since July 19, Texas 7-day test positivity was in the range of 10% to 14.9%, with at least 10 other states. At least one state – Nevada – was in the range of 15% to 19.9%.

The CDC says data was not available for all states.

Also, based strictly on the number of COVID-19 cases over the past seven days, Texas’ 16,569 cases ranked second behind Florida’s 39,349. according to CDC counts from July 15. This is not so surprising, given that Florida and Texas are both The most populated The U.S. states behind California – which ranked third in total COVID-19 cases during that period.

But when measured by cases per 100,000 people – allowing comparisons between states with different population sizes – Texas is much lower on the list.

As of July 15, Texas had a COVID-19 case rate of 57.1 per 100,000 people in the past seven days, according to the CDC. That was a lower rate than 14 other states, dropping from a high of 237.4 cases per 100,000 in Arkansas to 58.4 cases per 100,000 in Washington. Between these states were: Missouri (203), Florida (183.2), Nevada (153.6), Louisiana (151.4), Utah (112.4), Wyoming (102, 6), Oklahoma (94.2), Kansas (91.9), Mississippi (88.3), Alabama (83.6), Alaska (70.1) and Arizona (76.5).

As of July 19, Texas had a rate of 75.5 cases per 100.00 people during the previous seven days. It was still less than 12 states.

It should be noted that several of the states with the highest case rates during this period are also found among the states with the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates.

According to CDC data as of July 19, none of the 13 states with the highest seven-day case rates, including Texas, has seen more than 60% of its residents receive at least one dose of the available vaccines. Of these states, Florida had the highest percentage (55.6%) with at least one hit, and Louisiana had the lowest (39.9%). Texas was at 49.8%.

“This is becoming an unvaccinated pandemic,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. July 16 press briefing by the White House COVID-19 response team. She noted that “over 97% of people entering hospital right now” with COVID-19 “are not vaccinated.”

This is similar to the remarks she made in a July 1 briefing, when she said that “preliminary data from a set of states” since January indicated that “99.5% of deaths from COVID-19 in these states have been in unvaccinated people.”

The Associated Press likewise reported at the end of June, that “almost all” – or about 99.2% – of people who died in the United States from COVID-19 in May were not vaccinated. The unvaccinated also accounted for nearly 99% of COVID-19-related hospitalizations this month, the AP said.

We asked Castro’s office what metrics or data sources it relied on for its claims, but received no response. The CDC data we found does not support what it said about Texas’ positivity rate and number of COVID-19 cases.

Editor’s Note: COVID-19 Project / SciCheck Vaccination is made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The foundation has no control on our editorial decisions, and the opinions expressed in our articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the foundation. The goal of the project is to increase exposure to accurate information about COVID-19 and vaccines, while reducing the impact of misinformation.

---

---