Coronavirus: Texas Logs Record 5,551 New Cases, 29 More Deaths

AUSTIN, TX — The number of Texas cases of the coronavirus spiked again on Wednesday, increasing to an all-time high of 5,551 new diagnoses over the past 24 hours in bringing the historical illness count to 125,921. Another 29 people died from the day before, raising the fatality count to 2,249.

The bolstered figures were tallied on a statistical dashboard maintained by the Texas Department of State Health Services officials. Also noted among the data are 4,389 total hospitalizations, another record representing a spike of nearly 300 and an increase of 10.42 percent on the seven-day positivity rate — the highest since April 17.

The one-day rise of 4.6 percent exceed the 3.7 percent average, according to the data, while hospitalizations have rose 7.3 percent to 4,389.

Coronavirus levels have risen since Gov. Greg Abbott launched a reopening of the state economy on May 1, exponentially so since around Memorial Day. Wednesday's numbers come one day after Texas saw a spike of 5,489 new cases of illness.

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The number of active cases in Texas now numbers 50,774, according to the dashboard. Also troubling is the so-called positivity rate — the ratio of positive cases to the number of tests conducted. That seven-day average has returned to 10.42 percent, a level not seen in Texas since the early phases of the contagion in mid-April.

That positivity barometer was utilized by the governor as partial justification to reopen the economy last month. Shortly after the first phase of reopening that allowed operators of restaurants, movie theaters and malls to reopen at limited capacity, Abbott noted a rate over 10 percent would be reason for alarm.

But in a press conference to kick off the week, Abbott turned the focus away from soaring illness rates to speak of hospital bed availability in assuaging concerns that medical centers might not be sufficiently equipped for a patient influx. "To state the obvious, COVID-19 is now spreading at an unacceptable rate in Texas, and it must be corralled," he said. "We must find ways to return to our daily routines as well as finding ways to coexist with COVID-19."

The governor acknowledged the surge during an interview with KFDA, labeling the statewide spread of illness as a "massive outbreak." Yet in spite of record-setting illness and hospitalization rates, he vowed during his Monday press conference that Texas wouldn't shut down again: "Closing down Texas again will always be the last option."

Related stories:

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• Coronavirus: Texas Sees Record 5K-Plus New Cases
  

According to the statistical dashboard maintained by state health officials, the highest concentration of illness have been reported in:

• Harris County: 24,421 cases, including 14,048 actives cases.
• Dallas County: 17,744 cases, 5,702 active.
• Tarrant County: 9,386 cases, 4,403 active.
• Bexar County: 7,467 cases, 4,232 active.
• Travis County: 6,596 cases, 1,715 active.
• El Paso County: 4,809 cases, 1,194 active.
• Fort Bend County: 3,176 cases, 1,885 active.
• Potter County: 2,838 cases, 1,162 active.
• Collin County: 2,359 cases, 858 active.
• Denton County: 2,302 cases, 1,103 active.
• Hidalgo County: 2,130 cases, 1,098 active.
• Galveston County: 2,040 cases, 1,210 active.

There is a lag time between the numbers compiled by the Texas Department of State Health Services versus the most current figures released by individual health departments at the various municipalities. The historical number of cases in Travis County, for example, 6,014 rather than the state-posted 6,596.

And as alarming as the figures are coming out of Harris County are above, the up-to-date count as tallied by the Harris County Public Health officials is 25,786 — 1,365 greater than the state-posted number. Active cases in Harris County are 16,431 — a difference of 2,383 from what state officials posted in their statewide compilation.

Those Houston-area coronavirus levels have put the region on the verge of crisis, as multiple media outlets reported. “We're approaching a precipice of disaster,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told reporters at a news briefing this week. “We're looking at very, very concerning numbers in our hospital population that are getting worse by the day.”

The Harris County surge is such that Texas Children's Hospital has begun admitting adult patients overflowing from the Texas Medical Center, according to reports, and Hidalgo on Tuesday that 86 percent of the county's intensive care beds already are occupied.