The County of Texas stores bodies in trucks as the state sets a one-day record for COVID-19 deaths

(Reuters) – Texas on Wednesday set one-day records for increases in COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations in the state, forcing a county to store bodies in refrigerated trucks and asking a senior health official to call to be found. stay home. orders.

Texas, which reported 197 deaths and 10,893 hospitalizations, has been one of the states most affected by the coronavirus resurgence. Hidalgo County, in the far south of the state on the U.S. border with Mexico, has seen cases increase 60 percent in the past week, according to a Reuters count, with deaths doubling to more than 360.

“We have to tie this virus, this stallion, cut the numbers and control this,” said Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez. “Because our hospitals are war zones, they are really fighting right now.”

Cortez, a Democrat who serves as the county’s top official, issued a place-of-refuge order for residents. That mandate put him at odds with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who argues that local officials do not have the authority to make residents stay at home. Refrigerated trucks that can hold 50 bodies each.

Hidalgo’s top medical official, Dr. Ivan Meléndez, partly blamed Abbott’s move to override local officials for the surge in coronavirus infections, which he says has clogged the local medical system at all levels.

“Do I believe that an order to stay home is medically indicated at this time? Absolutely, ”said Meléndez.

On Tuesday, U.S. deaths from COVID-19 topped 1,000 in a single day for the first time since June 10. More than 142,000 people have died in the country in the past five months, and deaths are on the rise in 23 states, according to the Reuters count.

The country’s three most populous states, Florida, Texas and California, top the list of 44 states where cases are increasing, according to a Reuters analysis.

SCHOOL DISPUTES

California reported more than 12,800 new infections Wednesday, a record one day. The state has now overshadowed New York for the highest number of cases overall, although New York has seen far more deaths in 32,000 compared to 7,800 in California.

The increase has sparked disputes over mandatory mask orders and the best way to resume schooling.

In Chicago, dozens of teachers staged a socially distant motor protest against Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan for the Chicago Public Schools to start the academic year with a combination of in-person instruction and remote learning.

“If the grown-ups make the decision to have the teachers return completely to class, then someone will die. If he is not a student, he will be a teacher, a teacher’s grandmother, or a student’s grandmother, ”said retired teacher Jerome Jordan, 78.

The protesting teachers said officials have not come up with a detailed plan to properly clean schools, provide disinfectants and personal protective equipment, and instruct them on how to implement social distancing in large groups of children.

In Georgia, a third judge was named in the dispute between Republican Governor Brian Kemp and Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta, Democrat and mayor of the state’s largest city, over whether people should wear masks.

Among the few states that saw a drop in infections was Arizona, another recent hotspot that saw new infections drop 13 percent last week. Hospitalizations in the state have steadily decreased after peaking on July 13.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, was encouraged by those trends, his office said in a written statement, but cautioned that it was not time for the public to let their guard down.

“We need to continue to do the things we know make the difference: wear a mask, physically distance yourself and stay home as much as possible,” Ducey’s office said in the statement.