Highest Number of COVID-19 Deaths This Week: Did Texas Reopen Too Soon?

Hospitilization Remains Flat and There Have Been Spikes in COVID-19 Cases.

Photo cred:KXAN.COM

KTRK of Houston Texas reports that after two weeks of Texas businesses reopening, experts say there have not been any signs of progress towards fighting the coronavirus.

Two weeks ago, over 100,000 visitors flooded Galveston Beaches, which caused concern among Texas citizens and especially in Galveston County. Also, in Galveston County, the amount of confirmed cases and hospital admittances have not increased but medical experts caution everyone that it is still too early to tell what the consequences are.

Dr. David Persse from the Houston Public Health Authority stated “if it were me, i would probably wait another two weeks to see what happens.” he gave reasoning for his statement saying that the reason for waiting is due to the backlog in tests. He said that “I think that because of the lag in reporting, what we’re looking at today, may not be reflecting what we think it is.”

Today’s reflections show the hospital numbers and it shows that there are less coronavirus patients in the Texas Medical Center than in April. As of Thursday May 14 statewide, the number of people hospitalized was down by 130 in comparison to two weeks ago. While hospital numbers are decreasing, positive cases aren’t.

Here is a breakdown of the numbers starting May 1 compared to the last two weeks of April.

-Harris County saw a 22 percent increase.

-Fort Bend County numbers went up by eleven percent.

-Numbers increased in Liberty County and Chambers.

-Numbers decreased in Montgomery County and Galveston.

Keep in mind with these numbers that testing increased and 110,000 more tests have been done since May. The number of fatalities is still a major concern and on Thursday May 14, Texas recorded 58 deaths, the highest it has been.

Persse concludes that “if you don’t feel it’s a safe place to go into, don’t go in there. On the other hand, for those of us who are going to be in society, moving around, you really need to be wearing masks.”