TEXAS — As the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus wanes, new cases of the disease are declining in Texas, but the state is still seeing a lot of new fatalities attributed to it.

The Texas Department of State Health Services on Wednesday reported 4,588 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 as well as 2,112 new probable cases. That’s down significantly from late December and January when the state was reporting in the neighborhood of 20,000 new cases per day.

However, DSHS on Wednesday alone reported 299 more deaths due to the virus.

As of Wednesday, 6,914 Texans were hospitalized with the virus, which is also down significantly from just a month ago. Of them, 6,914 are in intensive care and 1,042 are on ventilators.

A total 227 pediatric patients are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Texas.

Austin-Travis County remains in Stage 5 of COVID-19 risk-based guidelines, but it’s anticipated the region will go back to Stage 4 in the near future.

San Antonio remains at the “severe” risk level.

Dallas County remains at the “high risk of transmission” risk level.

According to a report by the Associated Press, about half of eligible Americans have received booster shots, there have been nearly 80 million confirmed infections overall and many more infections have never been reported. One influential model uses those factors and others to estimate that 73% of Americans are, for now, immune to omicron, the dominant variant, and that could rise to 80% by mid-March.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.