#Texas blows past daily coronavirus record with 10,000 new cases

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File

The coronavirus continues to spread through Texas as the state nears capacity in its hospitals.

Texas has blown past its record for daily new coronavirus cases, reporting 10,028 new cases on Tuesday. The increase marks a continued and steady surge in COVID-19 infections, with the previous daily record of 9,300 new cases recorded on Wednesday, July 1, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

“We have rapid spread of COVID-19 in the state of Texas right now,” Gov. Greg Abbott said during an appearance on the San Antonio television station KENS, adding the growing cases should be “an alarm bell for everybody.”

Texas now joins New York and Florida as the only states that have logged more than 10,000 new cases over 24 hours.

The state also set its daily record for COVID-19 fatalities Tuesday when 60 patients died due to the virus. Even though deaths have begun to rise, the state’s death rate remains fairly low compared to other states experiencing spikes. At least 2,715 people in total have died from the virus.

Meanwhile, coronavirus hospitalizations have more than doubled in Texas over the last two weeks, up from 4,023 hospitalizations on Tuesday, June 23, to 9,286 as of this Tuesday, state data show.

Texas is among many states, including Florida and Arizona, that are facing huge increases in cases after undertaking early reopenings while resisting public health measures to stop the virus’ spread.

The dire figures came after Abbott underwent an aggressive reopening in May with an executive order that specifically blocked cities and other localities from instituting any form of face-covering mandate.

The Republican governor changed gears last week, rolling back his reopening while issuing a requirement for face coverings in most public settings — only to reportedly face pushback from several sheriffs who announced they would refuse to enforce the order.

“If local officials enforce the mask order, it will slow the spread of the coronavirus,” he told the local CBS affiliate Monday. “They just now need to step up and begin to enforce the orders that are already in place.”

With Post wires