Texas Coronavirus Surge: State Records 10K COVID-19 Cases In Single Day, Hospitals Fear Being Swamped

Texas shattered its record of new coronavirus infections after logging 10,028 cases in a single day Tuesday, data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission show. The latest numbers broke the state's previous record of a highest single-day surge at 8,258 last Saturday, July 4.

Texas is only the third U.S. state to record 10,000 cases in a single day, after New York and Florida, the CNBC said. The Sunshine state logged its highest single-day record of 11,400 cases July 4. In early April, at the height of the pandemic's first wave, the Empire state averaged more than 10,000 new cases daily.

The spike in infections is raising concerns that Texas' healthcare system could get overwhelmed by a wave of COVID-19 patients like it happened in New York in April.

Texas is one of 36 states that have seen a 5% rise in COVID-19 cases Monday, based on a seven-day average of data compiled by the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the same , the CNBC report said. Harris and Dallas County have the highest numbers of cases, prompting Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to warn that hospitals in the city could be full of coronavirus patients in two weeks.

“The number of people who are getting sick and going to the hospitals has exponentially increased," Turner said in an interview with "Face the Nation" on CBS. “The number of people in our ICU beds has exponentially increased.”

Counties like Hidalgo and Starr confirmed that their hospital facilities are at full capacity. According to the COVID-19 Tracking Project, there were more than 9,200 coronavirus patients in Texas hospitals as of Tuesday.

Coronavirus testing across the state now return an average of 13.5% positive cases. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott previously said that a 10% positive rate should be a red flag.

Abbot reopened stores, movie theaters, restaurants and malls early May despite warnings from experts on relaxing the safety protocols and social distancing measures.

On July 2, Abbot issued an executive order requiring counties with more than 20 COVID-19 cases to make wearing face masks in public places mandatory. The governor also limited gatherings to 10 people and reduced the capacity of restaurants, while ordering bars to shut down.

"We have the ability to keep businesses open and move our economy forward so that Texans can continue to earn a paycheck, but it requires each of us to do our part to protect one another — and that means wearing a face-covering in public spaces," Abbot said when he announced the executive order.