Texas reports 9,979 more COVID-19 cases and a new single-day record 98 deaths
On Wednesday, Texas set a new single-day record for COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations and had its second-highest single-day total of new cases.
The Lone Star state reported 9,979 new cases and 98 deaths, an increase from Tuesday’s single-day high of 60 deaths, according to Texas Department of State Health Services data. The most single-day cases the state has had is 10,028, which also was reported Tuesday.
Hospitalizations went up to 9,610 Wednesday, and COVID-19 patients occupied 17% of all available beds, according to the state’s data. On Tuesday, the previous state all-time high in hospitalizations was reported with 9,286 coronavirus patients. Experts have attributed the surge in hospitalizations in part to gatherings and holiday weekends, such as Memorial Day.
Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday’s single-day high of COVID-19 fatalities was “horrible news.”
“One death is one death too many. But 98 obviously is way too many,” Gov. Greg Abbott told KXAN-TV in Austin Wednesday night. “But when you look at the number of people who have been hospitalized over just the past couple of weeks, you can see that there may be more fatalities coming. What we need to do, is we need to take action now.”
More than 200,000 cases and 2,000 deaths have been reported in total, according to the state data. It’s estimated that over 100,000 people have recovered.
The seven-day testing positivity rate for the state is now at 15.03%. To combat the rising spread of coronavirus in the state, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered last week that most Texans must wear face coverings in public spaces and halted the state’s reopening — closing bars again and limiting restaurant occupancy to 50% from 75%.
When asked about reinstating stay-at-home restrictions Wednesday, Abbott reiterated that the goal is to avoid a stay-at-home order. He said cities must enforce current restrictions and urged Texans to abide by them.
“The reason why I issued the face mask requirement is that if everyone does wear face masks, everyone can go into work wherever they may work. It could be a grocery store, it could be an office building, it could be any place,” Abbott told KXAN-TV. “And that’s the reason why we do that, because if you do wear a face mask it will reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and that will bend the curve of the spike that we’ve seen.”
On Wednesday, Tarrant County continued its recent spike in coronavirus cases, reporting 595 more cases and six more deaths. The county now has 16,180 cases and 254 deaths.
Staff writer Tessa Weinberg contributed to this report.
Estimated active cases over time
Coronavirus daily active case estimates by local counties in the Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex, beginning April 8, 2020. Data provided by Texas Health and Human Services.
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 5:12 PM.
