LONGVIEW, Texas — Weekly COVID-19 infection rates have doubled in Gregg County and tripled in Smith County, with a meeting planned in Gregg County to discuss the rising number of cases.
"This thing continues to ramp up. I think we're going to have the same kind of situation we had last year, " said Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt, with epidemiologists expecting COVID-19 to peak again in November.
Because of that, he's organizing a meeting this coming week of local emergency management officials to discuss the situation. Actions the group could take will be limited, though, by restrictions Gov. Greg Abbott has placed on local authorities to, for instance, require people to wear masks.
When NET Health updated its weekly COVID-19 infection rates Thursday, Smith County's rate almost tripled from 22.1 the previous week to 64.39 with the addition of 845 new cases. The increase moved Smith County into the "substantial" community spread category. Rains and Van Zandt counties also moved into the substantial community spread designation.
Read the rest of the story with our news partners, the Longview News-Journal.
