Texas reported 8,698 coronavirus hospitalizations on Monday, a record increase in infections for the eighth consecutive day.
Public health officials warn the state could see an increase in new cases this week as state-wide data comes in after the long holiday weekend.
“There were many jurisdictions that did not report new cases with the holiday weekend, particularly Saturday, which would have appeared in yesterday’s update,” Chris Van Deusen, spokesman for the State Department of State Health Services, told Austin. American-Statesman in an email.
THE IMMUNITY OF CORONAVIRUS MAY BE ‘LIVE SHORT’, AN EXPERT WARNED
Statewide, testing increased over the weekend with an average of seven days of new tests hovering around 50,000, the newspaper reported. As of Sunday, the positivity rate was 13.5 percent.
Gov. Greg Abbott last week ordered face covers to be used in public in most counties after a spike in cases after a rapid reopening that stood out among other states. The request carries a $ 250 fine. It also suspended elective surgeries in several counties to accommodate COVID-19 patients in hospitals.
In the state’s Rio Grande Valley, hospitals have seen a dramatic increase in coronavirus patients in Starr and Hidalgo counties, saying the hospitals were at full capacity.
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Other states have had to re-impose restrictions and reverse their reopens after an increase in infections. Florida reported 10,000 new cases Sunday, a day after its highest number of confirmed cases in a single day: 11,400.
