Texas Reaches All-Time Daily High 10,865 Coronavirus Cases

AUSTIN, TX — Texas on Tuesday reported 10,865 new cases of the coronavirus —the highest single-day count since the onset of the illness as the state inches toward becoming the first in the nation to reach the 1-million mark in total cases.

Also on Tuesday, 94 new deaths were reported — bringing the total number of deaths historically in Texas blamed on coronavirus to 18,863.

The number of new cases of respiratory illness is the highest on record since illness started to sweep across Texas in the early part of the year, crushing the previous high of 10,791 set on July 15. The number reached on Tuesday also exceeds the average 6,982 daily cases recorded last week, as reflected in data input into a Texas Department of State Health Services dashboard.

The Lone Star State is on track to reach another milestone in becoming the first state to reach 1 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus. On Tuesday, health officials said the state has seen 974,230 cases since the illness outbreak began.

The illness spikes come a little over a month since Gov. Greg Abbott allowed bars to reopen, albeit at 50 percent capacity per an Oct. 7 executive order. Even as other businesses reopen at limited capacity, bars had long remained closed until the governor's order given the often-tight quarters at such establishments where patrons often socialize in proximity of each other for extended periods of time.

The governor initially allowed bars across Texas to reopen in May at limited occupancy levels, only to order them to close up again the following month after exponential spikes in respiratory illness ensued. Despite such cause-and-effect, bars have now been reopened since early October by virtue of the governor's last executive order.

Abbott had been under mounting pressure from business interests to allow bars to reopen, with bar owners at times showing up outside the governor's mansion in downtown Austin to loudly express ire over forced closures of their establishments.

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Yet rising levels of illness are not unique to the Lone Star State. Nationwide, the number of coronavirus cases have skyrocketed, with hospitalizations now topping 60,000. According to the COVID Tracking Project, the number of cases nationwide was 61,694 as of Tuesday — 2,024 more people than were hospitalized in the previous record date on April 15. According to the tracker, the U.S. now is averaging some 1,661 new daily hospitalizations.

As seen on the Texas Department of State Health Services dashboard, the Texas counties with the highest number of historical cases are:

• Harris County, 167,956.
• Dallas County, 103,184.
• Tarrant County, 67,192.
• El Paso County, 65,651.
• Bexar County, 57,422.
• Hidalgo County, 36,884.
• Travis County, 33,382.
• Cameron County, 24,747.
• Lubbock County, 23,148.
• Collin County, 20,460.
• Fort Bend County, 18,135.
• Nueces County, 16,477.
• Webb County, 16,227.
• Denton County, 15,967.
• Montgomery County, 13,602.
• Brazoria County, 13,247.
• Galveston County, 13,194.
• McLennan County, 11,289.
• Williamson County, 10,011.

The namesake city in El Paso County has been climbing the ranks in the past few weeks amid exponential illness spikes while the border city of just under 700,000 residents grapples with rising hospitalizations. As the New York Times observed in a report, the city now has more people hospitalized with COVID-19 than most states — 1,076 as of Tuesday. A recent increase of mobile morgues in El Paso's stock of mobile morgues from four to ten yields another grim barometer of the illness scourge at the border city, as the Times reported.

According to the ElPasoStrong website, the border city has logged a cumulative 682 deaths of the respiratory illness. There are 27,895 active illness cases there, with 1,076 residents hospitalized — 319 being treated at intensive care units.

According to the statewide dashboard, the top 25 Texas counties with the greatest number of fatalities since the pandemic swept over Texas are:

• Harris County: 2,871.
• Hidalgo County: 1,742.
• Bexar County: 1,433.
• Dallas County: 1,331.
• Cameron County: 992.
• Tarrant County: 882.
• El Paso County: 717.
• Travis County: 455.
• Nueces County: 415.
• Webb County: 349.
• Fort Bend County: 318.
• Lubbock County: 235
• Collin County: 201.
• Brazoria County: 189.
• Montgomery County: 188.
• Denton County: 187.
• Starr County: 187.
• Galveston County: 171.
• Maverick County: 163.
• Jefferson County: 160.
• Smith County: 159.
• Williamson County: 159.
• McLennan County: 154.
• Val Verde County: 129.
• Potter County: 108.

Amid the grim data, a glimmer of hope from state officials: With development of a coronavirus vaccine now on the horizon, the Texas Department of State Health Services suggested being poised to distribute medicines and inoculations. "A vaccine distribution plan has been developed," Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) officials wrote on Twitter. "Over 2,500 Texas providers have enrolled in the DSHS COVID-19 immunization program."

The agency shared the news following an announcement by Abbott of statewide preparedness to distribute medicines created to combat coronavirus. The news follows U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization of an antibody drug by Eli Lilly & Co., called bamlanivimab, that has been shown to improve the symptoms of people who contract the virus and prevent hospitalizations.

According to FDA officials, the drug is authorized for patients at high risk of progressing to severe COVID-19, including people 65 and older, or who have certain pre-existing medical conditions, according to the governor's advisory. Abbott said Lilly is expected to immediately ship approximately 80,000 doses across the country, including Texas, at no cost to the states. Lilly should have up to one million doses by the end of the year.

Similar to the Lilly antibody treatment, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. also has requested FDA emergency use authorization of its own COVID-19 antibody medical treatment to treat patients before they become seriously ill and aid in reducing hospitalizations, with an announcement of the FDA’s decision expected soon, according to the governor's advisory. This is the same antibody drug Donald Trump took to quickly recover from COVID-19 last month, the governor noted.

The federal government has agreed to buy hundreds of thousands of doses of the two new treatment drugs and will be in charge of allocating supplies to the states, which will in turn determine distribution to hospitals and healthcare facilities, according to the announcement. It is likely that the doses will be allocated to states and U.S. territories based on their share of hospitalized and infected patients, the notice continued.

These medical treatments are in addition to the announcement yesterday by Pfizer that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate achieved incredible success in an early analysis — demonstrating over 90 percent efficacy in preventing COVID-19, officials noted. It is expected to become available as soon as late November, officials added.

Abbott noted the state has already prepared to distribute the COVID-19 vaccines and medical treatments, including:

• Development by the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) of a Vaccine Distribution Plan, and its work health care providers to enroll in their Immunization Program to be eligible to administer these vaccines once available. More than 2,500 providers have already enrolled in the program, officials noted. DSHS also formed an Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel to develop vaccine allocation strategies.
• The Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) is prepared to assist the swift distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. In late October, TDEM hosted the State of Texas COVID-19 Vaccine Virtual Tabletop Exercise — more than 1,000 local, state, federal, and non-governmental organization partners came together to test the state’s vaccine support plan, understand its operational procedures, and examine their roles and responsibilities.

"Swift distribution of vaccines and medical treatments will begin to heal those suffering from COVID-19, slow the spread of the virus, and aid in reducing hospitalizations of Texans," Gov. Abbott said in a prepared statement. "As we anticipate the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, the State of Texas is prepared to quickly distribute those medicines to Texans who voluntarily choose to use them."