Texas Passes 10,000 Coronavirus Deaths

Texas health officials confirm that there have been over 10,000 coronavirus deaths as of Monday. The lingering effects of the summer outbreak continue as health experts remain concerned with schools reopening for over 5 million students in Texas.

About 4 out of every 5 deaths in the recent toll were reported after June 1, according to FOX26, Texas had one of the fastest reopenings out of every state in the nation back in May. The surge in cases in May caused Gov. Greg Abbott to reverse the reopening plans and institute the statewide mask order. August had some improvements, but Texas officials now worry that testing has diminished, skewing the count of COVID-19 positive cases.

On Monday, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported "51 new deaths, along with more than 2,700 new cases. Numbers are typically lower on Monday due to reporting lags over the weekends." [FOX26].

Texas has now joined New York, New Jersey, and California as those states who have had more than 10,000 coronavirus deaths, though the latter states are seeing imporvements, while Florida is also close to joinging that daunting milestone. Hundreds of deaths were reported in Texas in the recent weeks while hospitilizations have gone down since July. The most recent deaths happened weeks ago, and are now reported because Texas does not add them to the state's tally until death certificates are filed. [FOX26].

Gov. Abbott urges Texans to remain diligent so that numbers continue to improve as schools and universities continue to reopen. New virus clusters have already begun to strike since the start of the fall term, mostly linked to off-campus activities.

The novel COVID-19 virus has caused over 170,000 deaths nationwide with about 5.4 million positive infections.

SOURCE: FOX26