Texas broke its previous all-time daily high after Governor Greg Abbot reported 5,489 new cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Tuesday.

The state's governor revealed the grim record in an interview with KBTX.

During the interview, Abbot urged Texans to take the virus seriously.

He also encouraged residents to observe social distancing guidelines to curb the spread of the virus and hinted at the possibility of new restrictions, including placing the state's economy into another lockdown.

Texas is seeing a dramatic spike in the number of coronavirus cases as it hit the 4,000-case mark for the first time just two days ago.

In Houston, the Texas Children's Hospital has also started admitting adult patients due to a surge in hospitalization.

According to NPR, the children's hospital is providing additional ICU capacity and acute care bed spaces for both young and adult patients.

Texas has recently boosted its capacity to conduct COVID-19 tests.

However, health experts said the increase doesn't explain the sudden flood of new cases.

While there has been a steep rise in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, experts said they do not represent a second wave.

A graph from the state's health department showed a steady rise in daily new cases since the pandemic swept across the nation in March.

State of California

On Tuesday, Californian health officials reported over 5,019 new COVID-19 cases, breaking Monday's record of 4,230.

Hospitalizations also rose to 3,868 from Saturday's 3,702, Deadline reports.

In Los Angeles County, health officials reported 2,000 new cases for the fourth time in the last week.

Meanwhile, county officials in San Diego reported more than 300 new cases for the second consecutive day.

A Twitter post by California Public Health said young adults, between the ages of 18 and 49, made up most of the cases with 101,474 diagnosed, as of June 22.

California was one of the seven states that reported the highest number of hospitalizations since the pandemic began.

Hospitalized patient figures are rapidly increasing in Southern California, Central Valley, and the Bay Area.

Health experts have repeatedly warned that reopening businesses and allowing people to resume normal activities would lead to an increase in cases.

Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County's Public Health Director, said it is likely that the overall increase is linked to the nationwide protests that began after white Minneapolis officer knelt on the neck of black African-American man, George Floyd.

Ferrer also claimed that lifting the restrictions led to clusters of social gatherings at restaurants and private spaces, the Yahoo News reported.

Despite the rising numbers, more cities and counties are pushing forward with the reopening of their economies.

In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed announced that the next reopening phase will begin on June 29. 

Some businesses like hair and nail salons, barbershops, tattoo parlors, and massage establishments, which originally planned to open in mid-July or later, will be allowed to operate.

Museums, zoos, and outdoor bars would also be granted permission to reopen.


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