After three months, Laredo no longer has the worst hospitalization rate in Texas Feb. 22, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail A COVID-19 particle is pictured in this image provided by the CDC. A study published in the Lanced medical journal examined the case of a man who became infected with two different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in less than two months. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)CDC, HO / TNS Laredo began Monday with big news in a pair of categories, falling out of two major negative spots it’s held for months. The Laredo area fell out of first place in Texas in COVID-19 hospitalization rate as well as the top risk level for active cases in the community. These two pieces of news came on top of a third straight day of single-digit positives with nine announced along with three deaths, giving the area 42,498 positives and 774 deaths historically dating back to the emergence of the pandemic locally last March.