Houston is now roughly six years removed from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. But recent data suggests COVID might be surging once again in the Bayou City.

Recent data released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) last week showed one in 264 Americans are currently “actively infectious” with COVID-19, with 186,000 new daily infections nationwide. A large portion of those infected are not “actively infectious,” per the CDC, with less than one percent of reported cases deemed actively infectious across more than 40 of the 50 states across the U.S. That’s not the situation in Texas, however.

The CDC data shows Texas, Nevada and the territory of Guam have the most actively infectious cases as a share of the cases in a given state. Portions of Central Texas show a 2.4 percent to 3.5 percent active infectious rate, a rate deemed “high” by CDC data. That share grows in Houston, Galveston and portions of East Texas, where there is a “very high” active infectious rate of more than 3.5 percent. Guam, parts of northern Nevada and small pockets of both California and the East Coast are the only other areas nationwide showing an active infectious rate over 3.5 percent. 

Mike Hoerger, an associate professor of psychology and psychiatry at the Tulane Cancer Center, wrote on X he is encouraged by decreasing levels of active infections in California and Hawaii. He’s conversely concerned with the COVID levels in Fort Bend County, which he notes is “right next to Houston.”

The US has 10 COVlD hot spots (June 29, 2026)
🔹1 in 264 people actively infectious
🔹Levels flat or slightly rising, with volatility in CDC and Biobot reporting
🔹Ongoing major hot spots in Texas & Guam
🔹Isolated spikes in California, OR, NV, AL, GA, WV, NJ, and NY pic.twitter.com/nOKuy9a01D

— Mike Hoerger, PhD MSCR MBA (@michael_hoerger) June 30, 2026

CDC data showed COVID infections are growing in three states (including Texas) and declining in 34 states nationwide.

The Houston Health Department and Rice University collaborated to produce a City of Houston SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Monitoring Dashboard, which tracks the likely incidence of COVID across local communities through wastewater testing. COVID levels rose in the northern Houston suburbs via data tracked on June 22, while the rest of the county remained stagnant.