On Wednesday’s Houston Matters: Dr. Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health, gives us an update on the COVID-19 situation in the region.

The Houston region's case count is 205,120, up 887 from yesterday. Harris County added 534 cases today, and is at 148,769 cases total. There have been 3,508 deaths in the Houston region, up 7 from yesterday.

If you have been outside in Harris County lately, you’ve probably encountered a surge of mosquitoes. “We have the Asian Tiger mosquito and the Yellow Fever mosquito and they tend to occur really close to residence,” said Chris Fredregill, director of Harris County Public Health Mosquito Control Division. Harris County health officials say this peak in mosquitoes is pretty common this time of year.

The Houston region's case count is 204,233, up 659 from Oct.5. Harris County added 427 cases today, and is at 148,235 cases total. There have been 3,501 deaths in the Houston region, up 3 from yesterday.

The county was testing about 2,500 people a day in July and August, but that number dropped to 500. In the city, 18,000 people were tested the week of July 23, but only 8,200 people were tested the week of Sept. 24, said Dr. Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health. "I do think there's some (COVID-19) fatigue," said Dr. Shah, who doesn't know exactly why testing is down.

Six of Harris County Public Health’s 8 test sites are in new locations for the week of Monday, October 5 – Saturday, October 10. There are also new hours to make it more convenient for residents to get tested.

The Harris County Public Health Department confirmed 186, 321 and 173 new cases were confirmed Oct. 2, Oct. 3 and Oct. 4, respectively.

Los fallecidos han sido en los condados Harris, Fort Bend, Matagorda, Brazoria, Montgomery, Liberty, Wharton y Chambers. Se han recuperado 174,236 pacientes.

Just as Harris County Public Health initially sought volunteers for the task earlier this year, the county could expand its Citizen Corps or Medical Reserve Corps programs to include contact tracers.

Personas sin seguro y de escasos recursos pueden acudir a alguna de las clínicas publicadas en la pagina del Departamento de Salud del Condado Harris. “Pueden llamar para ver que lugar está más cerca a ellos durante este mes de octubre llamando al 832-927-7350 y necesitan una cita antes de obtener la vacuna”, informó Martha Márquez, del Departamento de Salud del Condado Harris.