Texas records 10,865 virus cases, sets new daily record

Photo by Associated Press, Illustration by Henry Keller (Henry Keller, KSAT, AP)

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas recorded 10,865 coronavirus cases Tuesday, setting a new daily record that surpassed by 74 cases an old mark set July 15, state officials said.

The new peak surge brings the state's case total ever closer to the 1 million-case mark with 974,230 cases reported since the pandemic began in early March, according to state figures. Of those, an estimated 132,146 cases are active, the most since Aug. 17, and 6,170 COVID-19 cases are hospitalized, the most since Aug. 18.

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The true number of infections is likely higher because many people haven’t been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected and not feel sick.

Ninety-four new deaths Tuesday brought the pandemic death toll in Texas to 18,863, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Meanwhile, cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 are surging in the Laredo area as the borderlands remained a COVID-19 hotbed Tuesday, health officials said.

Laredo health officials reported 331 new cases Tuesday of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the most since the Aug. 10 peak of 374 cases. That brought the area’s case count for the pandemic since the beginning of March to 16,558. Of those, 934 cases are active, the most in two months, and 73 require hospitalization. One new death was reported Tuesday, bringing the city's COVID-19 death toll to 367.

The surge comes as El Paso, another border city, grapples with a recent tsunami of cases. Another 1,292 cases were reported in El Paso County on Tuesday, bringing its pandemic count to 65,651 with 27,895 cases now active and 1,076 requiring hospitalization. Nine new deaths brought the county's COVID-19 death toll to 682.

The higher counts come amid intensive testing in both places and statewide.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and a cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.