Texas daily coronavirus deaths hit triple digits as Abbott expands elective surgery ban
State health officials reported 105 new COVID-19 deaths Thursday, the first time the daily death toll for the coronavirus reached triple digits in Texas.
The single-day increase set a record high for the third day in a row, following Wednesday’s 98 new deaths and Tuesday’s 60 fatalities.
Now, 2,918 Texans have died from the coronavirus, state figures show.
Hours before the death toll was updated, Gov. Greg Abbott suspended elective surgeries in more than 100 Texas counties in an effort to free up hospital beds for COVID-19 patients.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported that 9,689 COVID-19 patients were being treated in Texas hospitals Thursday, hitting a record for hospitalizations for the 11th consecutive day.
Abbott had initially banned elective surgeries only in the state’s most populated counties — Travis, Bexar, Dallas and Harris — two weeks ago to free up beds for coronavirus patients.
Last week, he added four South Texas counties to that list, banning elective surgeries in Cameron, Hidalgo, Nueces and Webb counties — home to Brownsville, McAllen, Corpus Christi and Laredo — as coronavirus hospitalizations and cases in those areas rose.
Abbott’s latest order, which goes into effect Friday, halts elective surgeries that are not “immediately, medically necessary” in much of the state, including many Central and South Texas counties. Hospitals in Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays and Williamson counties must suspend elective surgeries.
The order did not include areas surrounding Dallas County, including Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties. El Paso and its surrounding counties also were not included in the order.
“The state of Texas continues to implement strategies to help ensure ample supply of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients,” Abbott said in a statement Thursday. “By expanding this directive to include the counties within these 11 (trauma service areas), we are freeing up more resources to address upticks in COVID-19 related cases.”
The state has 22 trauma service areas. The Texas Department of State Health Services issues a daily report for each area that includes the number of available hospital beds, intensive care unit beds and hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
The health agency’s latest data showed available beds dwindling in many regions, especially in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley, where COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to surge.
The latest move came as state and local officials grapple with how best to manage rising new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
Abbott has warned that he expects coronavirus-related deaths to surge through July as hospitalizations continue to rise.
Although Texas’ death rate has remained relatively low compared with other states, health experts say that could change as hospitalizations skyrocket.
In early June, the rolling seven-day average of daily deaths was about 20 per day. But then the average began climbing in the second half of June, and, by Thursday, it stood at 56 deaths per day, up from a rolling average of 47 only one day earlier.
The record 9,689 patients in Texas hospitals Thursday was more than double the number of hospitalizations two weeks ago. It also represents a 541% increase since Memorial Day, when health officials reported 1,511 hospitalizations.