Texas governor cites downward virus trend & more testing despite 20,000 cases, over 500 deaths

AUSTIN, Texas -- Gov. Greg Abbott, speaking from the Texas Capitol on Tuesday afternoon, said the state was experiencing positive trends in its efforts to combat the coronavirus.

Over 20,000 Texans have tested positive, and 517 have died from the virus, according to state health officials on Tuesday, but Abbott mainatined "deaths continue to trend down, all the numbers are trending well."

There are a total of 1,491 people across the state currently being treated in hospitals, according to Abbott. He said that number of hospitalized has remained "relatively the same" and has stayed around 1,450 per day.

"We are very well equipped in the state of Texas to address healthcare needs of anyone who may test positive for Covid-19," Abbott maintained.

In addition, the governor provided a more in-depth look at testing data and said the date with the highest number of people testing positive was April 9. He said that's the only day so far that resulted in 1,000 or more positive tests.

Abbott said 205,000 Texans had been tested to date, up from just 169,000 four days ago. He noted the number of people testing positive remains at or below 10%.

Abbott said his team of medical experts are outlining a strategy that calls for an increase of up to 25,000 to 30,000 tests daily to monitor Covid-19, done with more testing supplies that he says are in the pipeline.

"We continue this ongoing increase in the number of people who are being tested," said Abbott, who also announced plans for the Texas National Guard to mobilize more than 1,200 personnel for mobile virus testing teams as part of the strategy.

Abbott said that Guard members will be mobilized throughout the state to operate mobile coronavirus testing sites. The first two locations will be in Fredericksburg and Floresville, according to a news release.

"The State of Texas continues to expand our Covid-19 testing capacities and ensure that communities across the Lone Star State have access to the resources they need," Abbott said.

In total, 25 teams will be deployed throughout the state, in locations based on the assessment of the Texas Department of State Health Services. The sites will each initially be able to test 150 people per day.

Texas has lagged nationally when it comes to testing and ranks near the bottom per capita, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of data collected by The Covid Tracking Project.

The low testing numbers have raised concerns, including in big cities such as Houston, as conservatives in Texas and supporters of President Donald Trump amplify calls to get the country back to work.

Following his executive order last week that outlined initial steps to reopen the state, Abbott on Tuesday said 500,000 jobs are currently open in Texas.

"Texas is prepared to be taking positive steps towards opening our state and ensuring our employees are going back to work," said Abbott.

He introduced a new website called WorkInTexas.com where job seekers and employers can see who is hiring and what services are available, all at no cost. The online tool is divided by region.

"You're not going to this and pay something in order to be connected to a job," said Abbott. "This is a service the state of Texas provides where we want to connect employers with employees."

Next Monday, Abbott is planning to issue new statewide orders that will further loosen Texas’ lockdown beyond the reopening of state parks and letting retailers sell items curbside, which take effect this week.

But even as Abbott plans to relax more restrictions, health leaders have warned that easing up on restrictions too soon could result in a new wave of cases.