Texas Has Two Deadliest Days in a Row With Nearly 100 New Deaths Wednesday

Texas reported a spike in COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, with a single-day record of nearly 100 deaths being significantly higher than the previous record set on Tuesday.

Cases have continued to skyrocket in Texas, less than two weeks after Governor Greg Abbott reversed course on the state's reopening plans by reinstituting a ban on bars serving alcohol. The state reported 9,979 new cases on Wednesday, just under Tuesday's record high of 10,028. There were 98 new deaths reported on Wednesday, while a then-record 60 deaths were reported the day before.

"Obviously, this is horrible news today, about these deaths," Abbott told KXAN. "One death is one death too many, but 98 is obviously way too many."

"When you look at the number of people who have been hospitalized over just the past couple of weeks, you can see that there may be more fatalities coming," he added.

Hospitalizations have steadily risen since mid-June. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients reached an all-time high of 9,610 on Wednesday. The state still has thousands of available hospital beds, although intensive care unit beds have been depleted, with only single digits available in some areas.

As of Wednesday, Texas had tested a total of 2,258,708 people for the virus, almost 8 percent of the state's population of around 29 million. On Tuesday, the positivity rate exceeded 15 percent for the first time.

The state also reported testing 212,321 residents for virus antibodies, with 7,437 positive results, representing around 3.5 percent of the total. When applied to the state's entire population, the positivity rate of antibody test results suggests that more than 1 million Texans may have contracted the virus at some point.

Although Texas's official death count has risen to previously unseen heights, some experts believe that the true count could be higher. An NBC News and ProPublica review of Houston Fire Department data found that deaths at home have spiked significantly. While the report found that a small portion of the deaths were attributed to COVID-19, many of those who die at home are never tested for the virus.

The overall number of COVID-19 deaths reported by the state was 2,813 as of Wednesday, out of a total of 220,564 cases. An estimate of around 113,000 people are believed to have recovered from the virus.

Texas was one of the first states to begin to reopen amid the pandemic, with Abbott issuing initial orders in mid-April. The governor has insisted that he would only consider a second large shutdown as a last resort. Last week, he issued an order requiring that face masks be worn in public in most situations.

Newsweek reached out to Abbott's office for comment.