Texas' coronavirus hospitalizations hit new daily high as total cases top 200,000

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Texas reported 8,698 coronavirus hospitalizations on Monday, a record high rise in infections for the eighth consecutive day.

Public health officials warn the state could see an increase in new cases this week as data streams in from across the state following the long holiday weekend.

“There were a lot of jurisdictions that didn’t report new cases with the holiday weekend, particularly on Saturday, which would have showed up in yesterday’s update,” Chris Van Deusen, spokesman for the state Department of State Health Services, told the Austin American-Statesman in an email.

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Statewide, testing increased over the weekend with the rolling seven-day average of new tests hovering around 50,000, the newspaper reported. As of Sunday, the positivity rate was 13.5 percent.

Gov. Greg Abbott last week mandated that face coverings be worn in public in most counties after an uptick in cases following a swift reopening that stood out among other states. The order carries a $250 fine. He also suspended elective surgeries in several counties to make room for COVID-19 patients in hospitals.

In the state's Rio Grande Valley, hospitals have seen a dramatic increase in coronavirus patients with Starr and Hidalgo counties saying hospitals there were at full capacity.

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Other states have had to re-impose restrictions and roll back their reopenings following a surge in infections. On Sunday, Florida reported 10,000 new cases, a day after its highest number of confirmed cases in a single day: 11,400.