Coronavirus: Texas reports jump in cases after reopening state

On 1 May Texas Gov. Greg Abbott started to reopen the state amid the coronavirus pandemic and for the eight day in a row there have been more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases reported. The Texas Health Department of State Health Services (DSHS) reported a total of 45,198 confirmed cases, an increase of 1,347 from Thursday.

So far Texas has recorded 56 new deaths related to Covid-19 and the state now has a total of 1,272 fatalities during the pandemic. As of 1 May Texas has allowed some businesses to reopen as part of the first phase of restarting the economy.

Texas ramps up Covid-19 testing

Retail outlets, malls, libraries and restaurants have welcomed back customers but those who decided to open had their occupancy rate capped at 25%. Since reopening the economy the daily total of fatalities is just two shy of the record number of daily Texas deaths attributed to Covid-19, which was also set last Thursday.

Over the last three days DSHS has reported an average of nearly 36,000 new Covid-19 tests and the number of positives has fallen to a cumulative total of 7% compared to a month ago when 10% of tests were coming back as positive.

Coronavirus cases have been reported in 222 of Texas’ 254 counties and increasingly nursing home residents have tested positive for coronavirus. More than 3,000 people in Texas nursing homes have cnotracted Covid-19 and 490 have died, while 494 recovered.

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