Texas Sets State Record With More Than 10,000 New Coronavirus Cases Reported Tuesday

Texas reported more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, smashing its previous record for single-day increases and becoming latest state to reach this grim milestone.

Florida did so earlier in this month and New York in April.

Tuesday's 10,028 confirmed cases eclipse Texas' previous record of 8,258, which it set on Saturday.

Hospitalizations are also reaching record highs, with the state surpassing 8,000 hospitalizations for the first time over the weekend. According to the nonprofit COVID Tracking Project, Texas has more than 9,200 hospitalized patients as of Tuesday.

At least two South Texas counties — Hidalgo and Starr — announced over the weekend that their hospitals had reached full capacity.

The mayors of Houston, Austin and San Antonio have also warned in recent days that hospitals in their cities are at risk of reaching their limits in the coming weeks.

"People should take this extraordinarily seriously," Dr. Marc Boom, president and CEO of the Houston Methodist hospital system, told NPR on Sunday. "And what we need right now in Houston - and I think we've been seeing over the last number of days - is people to really change their behaviors dramatically."

Texas has taken some measures to reserve hospital capacity and resources. In late June, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered hospitals in eight counties to suspend elective surgeries and procedures.

Aid is also coming from outside the state: About fifty soldiers from Fort Carson Army Base in Colorado are heading to the San Antonio area, where they will begin working in civilian hospitals later this week.

Abbott was initially reluctant to sound the alarm when cases began to spike in mid-June, but has since issued statewide orders designed to slow the spread of the virus.

By the end of June, he had rolled back some of the state's reopening plan by closing bars and tightening restrictions on certain businesses. He also reversed course on the subject of face coverings, and issued a mask mandate that took effect in much of the state on Friday.

The state reported 60 new deaths on Tuesday, bringing its cumulative total to 2,715. [Copyright 2020 NPR]