Texas officials announced nearly 7,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, breaking the state record for the total number of confirmed cases in one day.
The new daily record of 6,975 cases is much higher than the state’s previous record of about 6,000 cases.
The news comes as trend lines indicate that the rate of new infections in the state is accelerating sharply, even as other hotspots like New York have seen new case levels drop.
More new records in today’s @KVUE COVID data:
-Texas recorded 6,975 new cases today, breaking the previous single-day record by nearly 1,000.
-Cases / day in the last two weeks increased 165% from the previous two weeks, while tests during the same period increased 39%. pic.twitter.com/BlDR87XamH
– Andrew W. McKibbin (@AWMcKibbin) June 30, 2020
State officials have had trouble explaining the sharp rise in cases, and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) explained in a recent interview that Texas should have slowed efforts to reopen some businesses, including bars.
“If I could go back and redo something, it probably would have been reducing the opening speed of the bars, now looking after how fast the coronavirus spread in the bar configuration,” he told KVIA in El Paso.
The state moved to close bars once again last week and ordered restaurants to operate at 50 percent of capacity.
“Right now, it is clear that the increase in cases is largely due to certain types of activities, including Texans who congregate in bars,” Abbott said in a statement last week.
“Actions in this executive order are essential to our mission to quickly contain this virus and protect public health. We want it to be as limited in duration as possible. However, we can only delay the spread if everyone in Texas does their part,” added.
.
