NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM/CNN) — The full variety of confirmed novel coronavirus circumstances in Texas has risen to greater than 418,000, placing the Lone Star States at the next case depend than New York.
As soon as the U.S. epicenter of the pandemic, New York now ranks 4th in complete case depend behind California, Florida and Texas, based on knowledge from Johns Hopkins College.
Medical groups on the frontlines in Texas mentioned that spikes within the state have taken a toll.
“It’s very arduous. We’re seeing whole households in our communities ravaged by the virus,” mentioned Dr. Martin Schwartz, who treats sufferers in intensive care models. “A number of deaths inside one single household. It’s horrible.”
The principle hotspot within the state has been the Rio Grande Valley, the place hospitals started reaching capability earlier this month.
Well being officers say the pandemic is wreaking havoc on communities in Hidalgo County.
“It’s a tsunami what we’re seeing proper now,” mentioned Dr. Federico Vallejo, a essential care pulmonologist. He informed CNN final week that he’s treating as much as 70 sufferers a day in comparison with the same old 15 to 20 a essential care physician sees throughout a rotation.
Texas was one of many first states to reopen in Might, however Gov. Greg Abbott introduced a pause to any additional reopening in June when circumstances surged. Now Texas is among the 41 states to implement masks necessities in some type to guard in opposition to the virus’s unfold.
Although many well being consultants stress the significance of carrying masks to guard in opposition to the unfold of the virus, their use has been below debate within the public.
Texas Republican Louie Gohmert, who has incessantly refused to put on a masks, has examined optimistic for the virus.
Gohmert informed CNN final month that he didn’t put on a masks as a result of he had been examined and he didn’t but have the virus. “But when I get it, you’ll by no means see me with out a masks,” he mentioned. However he started to put on a masks extra within the final two weeks he mentioned.
Gohmert informed KETK on Wednesday he might have contracted coronavirus by incorrectly carrying his masks.
“I can’t assist however suppose that if I hadn’t been carrying a masks a lot within the final 10 days or so, I actually surprise if I’d have gotten it,” Gohmert added. “You realize, shifting the masks round, getting it excellent, we’re sure to place some virus on the masks that I sucked in. That’s most probably what occurred.”
Whereas carrying a masks incorrectly can expose an individual to the virus, consultants say it primarily spreads individual to individual.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The CNN Wire™ & © 2020 Cable Information Community, Inc., a Time Warner Firm contributed to this report.)
