Texas Coronavirus Cases Grow By 10,087, 141 New Deaths

AUSTIN, TX — Texas reported 10,097 cases of the coronavirus and 141 new deaths on Thursday — one day after health district official reported a single-day high of 10,865 new diagnoses.

The data are found on a statistical dashboard maintained by the Texas Department of State Health Services. To date, 19,004 fatalities have been reported since the onset of the virus causing respiratory illness. According to the dashboard, there are approximately 985,380 active cases of the illness statewide.

By one count, Texas already has reached the 1-million mark in confirmed coronavirus cases — the first state in the U.S. to reach the grim milestone. While the official state data put the cumulative number of cases 25,863 short of the million mark, John Hopkins University researchers place the number at 1,022,336. Researchers there said the million-mark milestone was reached on Wednesday.

Related stories:

• Texas Reaches All-Time Daily High 10,865 Coronavirus Cases
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As news of the Texas-size contagion spreads, some number crunchers have taken to add additional — and astonishing — perspective to the staggering statistics: Were Texas an independent country, it would have the 11th highest case count in the world.

In light of escalating illness rates, Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Thursday the deployment of additional resources to El Paso and Lubbock to combat the scourge. The former city has emerged as an illness hot spot marked by fast-rising illness rates. For its part, Lubbock on Thursday reported 446 new cases and four additional deaths — raising the historical level of cases in Lubbock County to 23,919 and cumulative deaths to 257.

As a result, El Paso County has been climbing the ranks of most affected regions in the last few weeks — now ranked fourth after Harris, Dallas and Tarrant counties. According to the dashboard, El Paso County has recorded 67,484 coronavirus cases. The top three counties with the highest number of cases are Harris County (168,746); Dallas County (104,451); Tarrant County (68,042); and El Paso County (67,484). Rounding out the top five is Bexar County, with 57,645 cases since the pandemic arrived in Texas.

Among the top ten Texas counties, a collective 11,243 fatalities have been reported. The death count per county:

• Harris County, 2,877.
• Hidalgo County, 1,750.
• Bexar County, 1,438.
• Dallas County, 1,341.
• Cameron County, 993.
• Tarrant County, 892.
• El Paso County, 729.
• Travis County, 456.
• Nueces County, 416.
• Webb County, 351.

Illness rates have come at such dizzying rates in the past few weeks, that some communities are scrambling to update their data with accurate numbers. In Williamson County just north of Austin, Texas, health district officials on Wednesday revealed a glitch had prevented entry of 1,400 cases to the region's cumulative totals — some 600 confirmed cases. Dating to July and October, the additional cases were "...unintentionally excluded in reporting," county officials wrote in an advisory.

The corrected numbers have changed from 10,011 confirmed cases reported on Nov. 9 to 10,676 confirmed cases reported for Nov. 10 along with 189 probable cases reported on Nov. 9 to 1,023 probable cases reported for Nov. 10, Williamson County officials noted. Per its gating criteria, the county subsequently elevated its community alert system to orange, but officials insist the upgrade was not resultant of the newly discovered cases that had not been input into their statistical dashboard.

Williamson County has the 19th highest illness rates in the state, with a cumulative 10,011 since the pandemic first swept across the Texas landscape. To date, 159 Williamson County residents have died of the illness.

To help stem the illness tide, the governor has deployed additional medical personnel, medical equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE), mobile testing sites and more to the illness hotbeds of El Paso and Lubbock.

"The State of Texas is ensuring that our communities hit the hardest by COVID-19 have the resources and support they need to keep people safe and bring hospitalization rates back down," Gov. Abbott said in a prepared statement. "We continue to work closely with local officials in El Paso and Lubbock to meet the needs of each community and mitigate the spread of this virus."

To that end, the governor said the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) have deployed two Auxiliary Medical Units (AMU) to Lubbock to assist with onsite surge capacity for local hospitals, with additional AMU’s available in the region if needed. The state also has surged additional medical personnel to the Panhandle and South Plains to assist area hospitals, according to the governor's office.

There are currently 716 personnel in the region with more being deployed as needed, the governor noted. TDEM continues to provide the Panhandle and South Plains with over 7.4 million masks, 3.9 million gloves, more than 1 million gowns and coveralls and 240,000-plus face shields, he said. The state also continues to operate three testing sites in Lubbock, Abbott added.

TDEM and DSHS have deployed more than 1,350 medical personnel to the El Paso region with more being deployed as needed. The Alternate Care Site in El Paso, established in late October, is increasing capacity from 65 beds to 100 beds by Friday.

Last week, Governor Abbott announced that three U.S. Air Force Medical Specialty Teams have been deployed by the U.S. Department of Defense to assist area hospitals. DSHS has also deployed six AMUs to assist area hospitals with surge capacity. The governor said TDEM continues to provide the El Paso community with more than 9.1 million masks, in excess of 3 million gloves, 964,000-plus gowns and coveralls, and more than 245,000 face shields. State health officials are now operating eight testing sites across El Paso County, the governor said.

The high Texas numbers have become political fodder for state Democrats just as the wearing of protective face coverings implausibly became a political statement for conservatives casting their avoidance as something of a cause célèbre.

“Medical experts show the virus is now spreading throughout Texas again, reaching into rural parts of our state with a vengeance," Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said in a prepared statement issued on Thursday. "Several small hospitals have already become overrun with patients suffering from the most severe COVID-19 symptoms. In places like El Paso, local health officials have added more than ten mobile morgues to the city in anticipation of COVID-19 deaths overwhelming local hospitals.

Hinojosa put the blame for the rising illness rates on the GOP leadership with control of state government — naming Gov. Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in particuar: “Instead of focusing on the issue killing our families, Abbott, Patrick, and the rest of the Texas Republican Party continue to make things worse. This all could have been avoided. We need to come together to solve the greatest challenge of our lifetime. We need leadership that will listen to the experts, and work with the incoming Biden Administration. Abbott and Patrick have so far failed to provide that leadership.”

To see the full range of coronavirus data in Texas, visit the Texas Department of State Health Services dashboard.