After months of declines, COVID-19 cases in Wood County, the state and nation have shot back up.

In recent weeks the county recorded two deaths, after several months of no deaths, bringing the total to 84 according to the Northeast Texas Public Health District and 131 according to the Texas Dept. of State Health Services.

The most recent report from NETHealth on Monday showed 54 new cases just since last Thursday, with 260 active cases in the county and 3,795 total cases since the start of the virus pandemic in March 2020. Case counts had fallen into the single digits in the semiweekly reports.

Health officials have noted for the past several weeks that virtually all deaths and most new cases are among the unvaccinated.

Vaccination rates are particularly low in rural counties, which includes Wood County at just 33.5%.

Hospitalization rates are also rising, approaching the levels of early in the year when the virus was at its worse before vaccines became widely available.

Community spread rates are also accelerating, with Wood County showing 38.59 which is a rolling seven-day rate of new cases per population. Smith County jumped into the 70s after all area counties had fallen into single digits.