Coronavirus Death Count Surpasses 5K In Texas

AUSTIN, TX — Texas reached another grim milestone on Sunday as the 5,000 mark for cases of the coronavirus was surpassed.

The updated data are found on the Texas Department of State Health Services website on a dashboard that is updated daily. According to the dashboard, 5,038 Texas residents have died of the respiratory illness since the contagion first swept across the state. The figure represents an increase of 153 new deaths from the previous day, and 1,080 more than a mere week ago.

Moreover, the state reported 5,810 additional cases of coronavirus from the previous day.

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The brisk pace of deaths is troubling, with 1,000 deaths reported in a mere six-day period as the dashboard indicates. The historical illness count now stands at 381,656.

According to the dashboard data, the counties with the highest levels of illness to date are:

• Harris: 64,113 cases.
• Dallas: 46,013 cases.
• Bexar: 30,319 cases.
• Tarrant: 19,401 cases.
• Hidalgo: 15,153 cases.
• El Paso: 13,240 cases.
• Nueces: 8,127 cases.
• Galveston: 8,046 cases.
• Cameron: 7,827 cases.
• Fort Bend: 6,530 cases.
• Denton: 6,043 cases.
• Collin: 5,762 cases.
• Montgomery: 5,597 cases.
• Brazoria: 5,443 cases.
• Williamson: 5,246 cases.

In terms of fatalities, the counties with the greatest number of deaths are:

• Harris: 636.
• Dallas: 604.
• Hidalgo: 456.
• Tarrant: 344.
• Bexar: 322.
• Travis: 241.
• El Paso: 224.
• Cameron: 177.
• Nueces:137.
• Webb: 99.
• Williamson: 92.

The most urgent focus is along the Rio Grande Valley, where troubling spikes in fatalities have been reported. Media reports indicate hospital resources are in dwindling supply in that region, yielding the hard choice for doctors in deciding to treat patients with greater likelihood for survival than those whose deaths of the respiratory illness is something of a foregone conclusion.

As of Saturday, more than 25,000 cases of coronavirus had been confirmed across the Rio Grande Valley's four counties that are predominantly Hispanic.