COVID-19 cases in Wood County and across East Texas continue at high levels.

Yantis schools closed its facilities last Wednesday through Friday in response to an increase in what it termed “COVID cases and other illnesses.”

Mineola ISD reported 49 student and eight staff cases as of last Friday, among those 16 high school students and 22 middle school students.

Alba-Golden ISD reported it had three staff and 10 students cases in the elementary grades and two staff and 20 students in the upper grades, although no new cases were reported at elementary Sept. 1 or 2.

The count of cases in Wood County neared 5,000 since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, with 4,955 cases reported by the Northeast Texas Public Health District through last Thursday. There was no new report Monday due to the holiday.

There were 245 new cases in the latest three-day reporting period, which includes 109 confirmed and 136 probable (based on a positive antigen test).

Those included 1,111 active cases, split almost evenly between confirmed and probable (571-540).

Almost one-fourth of the total cases – 1,214, – have occurred from Aug. 1 to Sept. 2, 2021.

The NETHealth report no longer shows deaths by county but links to the Texas Dept. of State Health Services which shows the county has had 156 fatalities from COVID-19.

Community spread levels, calculated by number of new cases per population, remained at high levels with Wood County showing the highest in the region at 122 followed by Gregg County at 117 and Smith County at 112.

By comparison, during the low period earlier in the summer, the county was reporting spread levels in the low single digits.

Hospitalization levels also remain near all-time highs across the region, with NETHealth reporting 378 cases last week compared to fewer than 30 in late June.