Texas virus deaths, cases set records for 4th straight day

AUSTIN, Texas — The state of Texas set a new daily record for virus deaths, with 174 on Friday, and reported more than 10,000 confirmed new cases for a fourth consecutive day.

It also marked the third day in a row with more than 100 deaths.

The latest death toll was announced just hours after state officials gave public schools permission to keep campuses closed for more than 5 million students well into the fall as Texas scrambles to contain one of the largest resurgences of the coronavirus in the country.

One of the hardest-hit areas remains along the Texas-Mexico border, where El Paso County officials announced Friday they are bringing in mobile morgues as the Borderland's death toll grows.

But Gov. Abbott said that Texas could be seeing signs that the spread is slowing after a June and early July in which hospitalizations quadrupled, which has stretched hospitals and ICU units to full capacity.

On Friday, the state reported 10,479 available staffed hospital beds, including 896 available staffed ICU beds statewide. Covid-19 patients currently occupy 18.8% of total hospital beds. In late April, Abbott had ordered hospitals to reserve 15% of beds for Covid-19 patients.

It has been nearly three weeks since Texas shut down bars again, and Abbott said the leveling off of hospitalization rates in the state's largest city, Houston, in recent days is encouraging.

“We’re certainly not out of the woods yet, but this could be a glimmer of hope coming if people will continue wearing face masks wherever possible,” Abbott said.

As of Friday, Texas had administered 3,067,620 tests for the coronavirus since March. Expert opinions differ on how much larger that figure needs to be. We do not know the number of Texans who have gotten a test because some people are tested more than once. Tests from private labs, which make up the majority of reported tests, are not de-duplicated. The state’s tally also does not include pending tests.