- Texas reported 1,801 new COVID-19 infections on Saturday — the highest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases in the state so far.
- More than 700 of the new cases came from the Amarillo area, a city along the Texas panhandle.
- Gov. Greg Abbott said he expected the number of positive cases to continue to rise as the state plans to increase the amount of testing in “most high-risk areas: nursing homes, meatpacking plants, and jails.”
- Abbott began relaxing the state’s stay-at-home order on May 1 and is set to relax it further on Monday, allowing gyms to open at 25% capacity.
The state of Texas on Saturday reported its highest single-day increase of new COVID-19 infections of all time as the state continues to relax restrictions on businesses.
The Texas Department of Health on Saturday announced 1,801 new people had been diagnosed with COVID-19 within the past 24 hours. The Houston Chronicle reported Saturday that the spike is due in part to a new outbreak in the Texas panhandle with more than 700 cases reported in the city of Amarillo — attributed to meat-packing facilities in the region.
According to The Houston Chronicle, the number of new infections in Texas had typically fallen around 1,227 new cases per day over the past week, and until Saturday, the state had not seen a single-day increase in cases larger than 1,500.
Abbott said he expects the number of new cases to continue to see increases as the state plans to increase the amount of testing in “most high-risk areas: nursing homes, meatpacking plants, and jails.”
www.businessinsider.com/texas-highest-single-day-increase-after-relaxing-stay-at-home-2020-5