Hours ahead of start of reopening, Texas records single-day high 50 coronavirus deaths
Texas is about to start reopening just as the state experienced one of its biggest spikes during the coronavirus pandemic.
State health officials reported a single-day high of 50 coronavirus-related deaths and 1,033 new cases on Thursday, a day before the state is allowing businesses to reopen.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s “stay-at-home” orders expire at midnight Thursday. He is allowing businesses, including nonessential retails stores, malls and movie theaters to reopen to limited customer capacity beginning Friday.
Texas has the second-largest economy among the 50 states and one of the largest in the world.
There have been 119 pandemic-related deaths in Texas over the past three days, the deadliest stretch since the first reported COVID-19 death in the state on March 17, according to the Associated Press.
The 1,033 new cases reported on Thursday are the third-most in a single day during the pandemic. The most in a day was 1,441 on April 10, according to The Texas Tribune. Texas has reported more than 28,000 coronavirus cases as of Thursday evening.
Thursday was an especially rough day for DFW-area counties, including Tarrant County which reported a single-day high seven deaths and 97 new cases. Dallas County reported a single-day high of 179 cases and five more deaths. Harris County, which includes Houston, has reported a state-leading 109 of the 782 COVID-19 deaths in Texas.
