Texas daily death toll reaches new high
‘NO SHUTDOWN COMING’: Abbott rejects calls for another lockdown despite grim record
Texas set yet another record for coronavirus deaths Thursday with 154 — the third day in a row above 100.
The previous record was July 8 when 112 deaths were logged, according to a data analysis by
Hearst Newspapers that shows the state reported 105 deaths on Wednesday and 104 on Tuesday.
The streak in deaths comes two weeks after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered most of the state’s 30 million residents to wear masks. Despite pressure from local authorities that he give back their ability to mandate stay home orders, Abbott has insisted increased mask-wearing is the key.
Abbott told Houston’s Fox 26 on Thursday that “the last step that would ever be taken is to lock Texans back down” and said other measures would be taken before resorting to that.
“It seems like I get this question a thousand times a day, and there seem to be rumors out there about a looming shutdown,” Abbott said in the interview. “Let me tell you: There is no shutdown coming.”
It will take about three weeks, Abbott said, to see the effects of his mask mandate and his closure of bars in late June. Abbott claimed cases were flattening out in Harris County, though Hearst Newspapers’ analysis shows the county’s rolling average for new cases is more than three times higher than a month ago.
“We are certainly not out of the
woods yet, but this could be a glimmer of hope coming if people will continue to practice wearing face masks wherever possible,” Abbott said. “The only way we can avoid a shutdown is if we do get everyone buying in to this process of wearing face masks.”
Abbott also said he was encouraged as hospitalizations in most of the state are starting to plateau, with the exception of some areas.
Lab-confirmed hospitalizations from the virus dipped to 10,457 on Thursday from 10,471 the previous day — that number has stabilized over the past five days, ranging from 10,405 to 10,569. However, they were still up about 8 percent from a week ago, state data shows.
“If all of those numbers spike once again, we will have to find additional measures to take,” Abbott said.
On the other hand, a top medical adviser to Abbott said earlier this week that the coronavirus surge in Texas is already rampant enough to warrant lockdowns in at least the hardest hit regions. “It’s clear that the state has not been on a sustainable course and it’s worth considering a regional approach,” said Dr. Mark McClellan, a a physician and economist at Duke University and a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, in a Tuesday interview with Hearst Newspapers.
‘No relief in store’
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been consistent in recommending people cover their mouth and nose when around others to help reduce the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. On Tuesday, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said if all
Americans wore a mask, it could bring the pandemic “under control” within four to eight weeks.
But mask mandates have been highly politicized by President Donald Trump and many of his ardent supporters. Some Texas sheriffs have said they won’t enforce Abbott’s orders.
There are now 306,490 COVID-19 cases statewide, and 3,637 have died; Thursday, the state recorded 14,430 new confirmed cases, the third day of cases above the 10,000 mark.
The state has 10,759 hospital beds available, including 865 ICU beds.
Faster spread
A new report from Kinsa, a company that uses internet-connected thermometers to predict the spread of diseases, showed that Texas’ rate of illness is spreading faster than those of other states. The company in the past few years has successfully anticipated outbreaks of the flu weeks ahead of the federal government.
The Kinsa data, which tracks whether an uncontrolled outbreak is likely using fever trends and other information, showed that the state is hitting above the threshold for the entirety of the past 30 days.
“This level of sustained, rampant disease transmission suggests that there is likely a lot more illness in the community than what has been reflected in the case numbers to date,” the company said in a press release Thursday. “In other words, there is no relief in store for Texas over the next few weeks, and we fear that the situation there may get much worse in the near-term.”