Texas Coronavirus Hospitalizations Drop Below 6K
AUSTIN, Texas (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - The number of coronavirus patients in Texas hospitals fell below 6,000 Wednesday for the first time since June, but newly reported deaths topped 300 for the fourth time this month with 309.
Texas also reported 6,474 new cases as the number of total deaths pushed past 10,500 since tracking began in March, the fourth-most in the U.S.
But Collin County Judge Chris Hill expressed concerns about the accuracy of testing figures.
The reservations over testing data comes a week after the rate of positive cases in Texas climbed to record highs — suggesting that one in four coronavirus tests were coming back positive — before quickly dropping after state health officials attributed the spike to a backlog of cases and lab errors.
By Wednesday, the rate of positive cases was back below 11% for the first time since June, another encouraging sign as local health officials in cities including Dallas and Austin say trends are moving in the right direction.
'The Overall Trend Is A Gradual Decline': Dallas County Reports 399 More Coronavirus Cases, 5 Deaths
Gov. Greg Abbott said the issues that caused the backlogs have been resolved and that the figures should level off by week's end.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
