Covid Sparks Record Texas Spike
that's Par for Course Across U.S.
Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside
November 18, 2020
The coronavirus sizzled to an all-time high on Tuesday in Texas with no signs of relief or plans among top state leaders on how to combat the latest record surge or ways to pay the epic bills that will come due at the Capitol next year as a consequence of a crisis that's still under way.
The Department of State Health Services reported 10,826 new COVID-19 cases in Texas today - a record spike that erased the previous mark that was set exactly one week ago. The New York Times virus trackers had pegged the Texas new infection tally at 11,371 on Monday less than a week after a record-snapping spike at 12,857.
But the virus is surging everywhere in the United States with no resistance from President Donald Trump who's been focused solely on the overturning of the general election results in the courts in a dramatic bid to prevent the loss of the power to which he'd become accustomed in recent years.
Texas is just another hot spot with a state response on apparent cruise control to give President-elect Joe Biden and the Democrats time to come in and start taking the blame for the restrictions that will be necessary to keep hospitals in Texas from caving under a covid patient surge that's only just beginning.
Abilene and Marshall were ranked first and third in the nation early Thursday morning on the New York Times list of metros where new cases are soaring the fastest. San Angelo was 19th after vaulting near the top in the past few days. El Paso continues to rank among the nation's three hottest metros in the daily new case counts while Lubbock has been ablaze as well.
GOP governors are starting to issue mask orders in some of the states that have been overwhelmed by ferocious second wave that President Donald Trump has refused to acknowledge while focusing solely on his attempt to have the American election results changed in his favor. Trump has made it clear that he has no use for such behavior in the party that he still controls and commands despite the loss at the polls this month to Democrat Joe Biden.
Governor Greg Abbott has appeared to be taking a hands off approach to the state response that he hasn't altered throughout the entire current outbreak that began six weeks ago when he allowed bars in some major counties to reopen in a move that backfired as expected.
The Republicans here would probably be wise to defer to Biden and the Democrats on the no-win proposition that the covid crisis has proven to be in Texas where more than 1.1 million people have been diagnosed with the disease including time and time again in the past nine months.
more to come ... |
