Coronavirus: Texas Reports 1,637 New Cases, Count Exceeds 77K

AUSTIN, TX — The number of cases of the coronavirus across Texas grew by 1,637 additional cases over the past 24 hours — bringing the total count to 77,253 — and 17 more people succumbed to the contagious respiratory illness, health officials reported on Tuesday.

Illness trends reached another unwanted milestone on Tuesday, with a new, one-day high of Texas hospitalizations of 1,935 — up from a previous record of 1,888 set on May 5. Moreover, the data show the number of people hospitalized for coronavirus in the state has increased 11 of the last 14 days, rising from 1,511 hospitalizations on May 25.

Gov. Greg Abbott has often cited what he perceives as a downward trend in hospitalization rates in justifying a brisk reopening of the state economy in Texas — the first state to reignite coronavirus-stalled commerce in phases that began May 1 with some industries allowed to reopen their doors at limited occupancy.

The updated count is provided in a statistical dashboard maintained by the Texas Department of State Health Services. The big jump in cases comes three days after 1,940 new coronavirus diagnoses were reported last Saturday — the biggest single-day increase to date since the onset of illness.

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With the 17 new deaths, the fatality count to date now stands at 1,853 statewide. After considerable backlash as to their methodology, Texas health officials recently stopped co-mingling viral tests and antibody tests under one umbrella — a rough calculus that had the effect of artificially inflating testing levels — and now separate the two. The updated dashboard data show 1,147,355 viral tests have been conducted to date with another 138,784 tests for antibodies in a state with a population of some 29 million.

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There are an estimated 24,260 active cases of the respiratory illness for which there is no vaccine, according to the statistical dashboard. According to the latest figures, the counties with the greatest concentration of illness are:

• Harris County: 14,918 cases.
• Dallas County: 12,347 cases.
• Tarrant County: 6,369 cases.
• Travis County: 3,815 cases.
• El Paso County: 3,512 cases.
• Bexar County: 3,333 cases.
• Potter County: 2,763 cases.
• Fort Bend County: 2,138 cases.

The illness spikes come as the governor proceeds with an ambitious plan of reopening the economy to reignite commerce in several phases, yielding a status as the first state to do so. Abbott has repeatedly assured his reopening plan is informed by advice from health consultants — the "doctors and data" approach, as he's fond of saying — even as many business operators are averse to reopen for risk of spreading further illness.

Early on, Abbott also declared worship services and construction work as "essential services," making both activities all but immune to safety measures designed to mitigate illness spread. He also has waived the mandate to wear protective face coverings, warning local officials not to fine non-mask-wearing violators in citing his superseding order.

There is growing evidence the Abbott-led reopening was launched too soon, casting Texas in an unwelcome national spotlight as a cautionary tale of growing illness. In his press briefings of late, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York has taken to showing slides of the Texas illness increases as cautionary tale as he prepares to reopen his state.

One national media outlet taking note of the Texas spike is Newsweek, which reported the state recorded 71,330 cases of the coronavirus between March 1-June 4. Texas recorded spikes in new coronavirus cases in counties north of Houston, such as Grimes County that saw an increase from 14.5 reported cases two weeks ago, to a high of 58.4, while Walker County cases jumped from 41.7 to 186.1 cases, Newsweek reported.