Texas Gains 14,758 New Coronavirus Cases, 207 More Deaths

AUSTIN, TX — Texas reported 14,758 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday — 434 fewer than the all-time, single-day record set the previous day — as the state crossed the 1.2-million mark for cumulative respiratory illness diagnoses since the pandemic began.

The latest data were input in a statistical dashboard maintained by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Another 207 deaths from the illness also were reported, bringing the historical total to 21,756.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to the 14,758 reported new cases, state health officials inserted a notation to the current dashboard alerting to another 1,666 older cases — across 64 counties from Archer and Hardeman to Karnes and Zavala — that had not been input previously.

Among those retroactively added cases, the most emerged in coronavirus-ravaged El Paso County with 496 previously unreported cases added to the statewide totals. Ellis County had 160 previously unreported cases reported on Wednesday for the second-highest level, trailed by Kaufman (87); Guadalupe (78); Gillespie (71); Rockwall (59); Atascosa (57); Parker (54); Wilson (37); Wise (38); and Palo Pinto (35).

Of growing concern to health officials is the rising number of hospitalizations — 9,109 as of Wednesday, up 62 from the previous day. The level is the highest since July 31. Nearly 5 percent of the total (4.90 percent) of those active cases currently require hospitalizations, as the data show.

Among the concerning data are two hopeful signs. One, an estimated 993,151 people have recovered from the illness since the pandemic arrived in the Lone Star State — a net gain of 16,634 from the previous day. The number of estimated active cases fell by 417 from Tuesday to 185,767.

The big spikes come one day after Texas posted a new single-day record of 15,1182 new cases.

Health officials have expressed concern about the upcoming holidays when people will gather outside their immediate households to spend time with relatives. Spikes in illness were seen this past Halloween that were blamed on parties, and health officials are now bracing for increases stemming from Thanksgiving reunions that have yet to emerge clinically.

“We remain concerned about a potential surge on our hospitals over the next few weeks, as we see the impact holiday gatherings may have on the spread of COVID-19,” health district officials wrote in a Tuesday advisory as the new single-day record was set.

The concern had not lessened on Wednesday, with the soaring rate of hospitalizations taking center stage. "Many areas with already burdened hospitals have large surges of new cases," state health officials wrote on Twitter. "Hospitalizations are expected to rise higher."

To illustrate the breadth of concern, health officials ticked off the latest statistics based on daily averages: In the last seven days, health officials wrote, the state has averaged 9,323 new cases per day, 8,787 hospitalizations and 115 fatalities.

According to the state dashboard, the counties with the highest number of cumulative coronavirus cases are:

• Harris County: 192,127.

• Dallas County: 127,786.

• Tarrant County: 90,440.

• El Paso County.

• 87,799.

• Bexar County: 67,775.

• Hidalgo County: 43,546.

• Travis County: 38,757.

• Lubbock County: 33,045.

• Collin County: 27,553.

• Cameron County: 26,290.

• Fort Bend County: 20,739.

• Denton County: 20,383.

• Webb County: 20,280.

• Nueces County: 18,293.

• Montgomery County: 17,078.

• Galveston County: 14,976.

• Brazoria County: 14,645.

• McLennan County: 14,531.

• Williamson County: 13,515.

• Potter County: 12,833.

State dashboard data show the top 25 counties with the highest number of cumulative coronavirus deaths are:

• Harris County: 3,023.

• Hidalgo County: 1,821.

• Dallas County: 1,565.

• Bexar County: 1,512.

• El Paso County: 1,107.

• Tarrant County: 1,054.

• Cameron County: 1,018.

• Travis County: 470.

• Nueces County: 430.

• Webb County: 380.

• Lubbock County: 367.

• Fort Bend County: 336.

• Collin County: 261.

• Denton County: 225.

• Montgomery County: 214.

• Brazoria County: 204.

• Smith County: 200.

• McLennan County: 192.

• Starr County: 190.

• Galveston County: 183.

• Jefferson County: 180.

• Maverick County: 174.

• Williamson County: 170.

• Potter County: 165.

• Val Verde County: 141.

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

This article originally appeared on the Austin Patch