AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas has once again reached a record high for the number of Texans hospitalized due to the coronavirus.

Monday the state reported 5,913 being treated in Texas hospitals. State officials continue to be confident in the hospital capacity to care for COVID-19 patients even as the numbers have steadily risen over the past several weeks.

The doctor who serves as the governor's main advisor on hospital capacity says across the state, coronavirus patients make up about 20 percent of occupied hospital beds. The governor also recently banned elective surgeries in the state's four largest cities in order to free up bed space. That could be expanded if needed.

But one of the biggest concerns is how quickly young people are contracting the virus.

"The severity of illness is not necessarily sparing the young group, and as we see more and more people being afflicted with this, we're going to see them end up in a hospital setting that's hopefully mild but could certainly progress in more severity," said Dr. John Zerwas, who’s also the Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs at the University of Texas System.

Click the video link above to watch our full interview with Dr. Zerwas, including his take on mandating masks statewide and further pulling back on reopening businesses.