Texas reached another grim milestone on Sunday when it topped 5,000 deaths from the new coronavirus. In doing so, the state reported 1,000 deaths in six days, four days faster than it took to reach that total the previous time.
According to state health data released Sunday, 5,038 people in Texas he had died from the virus. That’s 153 more deaths than the day before and 1,080 more than a week ago. Public health experts have said the reported totals are likely to be a low count because not everyone who died with coronavirus symptoms was tested.
Since July 20, when Texas topped 4,000 deaths, some Rio Grande Valley counties have seen significant increases in the number of people dying from COVID-19. That part of the state, among the worst affected parts of Texas, has a higher proportion of Hispanic residents than many other areas.
National data has shown that black and Hispanic people are disproportionately affected by the virus. In Texas, Hispanic people are the most likely to be without health coverage, accounting for 61% of the uninsured, but only 40% of the population, according to figures used by the Texas Medical Association.
Cameron County reported 96 total deaths on July 20. On Sunday, it recorded 177. During that same time period, Hidalgo County reported 456 total deaths on Sunday, up from 284.
While Texas continues to report daily triple-digit deaths, the number of new daily cases appears to stabilize. In the past week alone, state data appears to show new daily infections leveling off, albeit at near record levels.
The state recorded its highest number of daily new cases on July 15, at 10,791. On Sunday, that number was 5,810.
Epidemiologists and disease modelers have said they are cautiously optimistic that Governor Greg Abbott’s mask mandate issued three weeks ago is helping the state take a turn in its efforts to contain the outbreak. Although a plateau of new virus cases would hardly represent a victory over the pandemic, it could help prevent hospitals from being overrun by sick patients.
But the hospital data is incomplete. The state is not releasing the information it collects on how many beds individual hospitals have available. And only a fraction of the state’s hospitals, cities, and counties are providing that information to the public on their own. The Houston Chronicle reported that Abbott had expressed displeasure to the hospital executive over the headlines related to the ICU’s capacity, but Abbott spokesman John Wittman said any suggestion that the governor suggested executives publish less data is false.
Still, even if new case counts remain constant, public health experts ask Abbott not to rule out another shutdown, especially in the most affected regions of the state, as the disease continues to infect approximately 10 times as many people each day. compared to two months ago, ravaging some parts of the state more severely than others.
An Abbott spokesman did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.
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