TEXAS — Texas appears to be headed in the wrong direction when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. This week, the state reported more active COVID-19 cases than at any time since the summertime peak. 

What You Need To Know

  • 85,618 active cases on Thursday

  • 85 COVID-19 fatalities Thursday

  • 4,931 hospitalizations for the virus Thursday

For a second straight day, active cases of the illness were at their highest since September 1. State health officials on Thursday estimated that 85,618 cases were active cases of COVID-19, the illness the coronavirus causes. Of Thursday’s active cases, 4,931 required hospitalization, the most since August 26.

The 4,991 new cases, along with unreported cases from earlier, increased the Texas total for the eight-month outbreak to 845,100.

The Texas COVID-19 death toll of 85 Thursday raised the outbreak fatality total to 17,286.

Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Thursday that Texas is sending more medical reinforcements to the El Paso area in response to the region's surge of coronavirus cases and the illness the virus causes.

The Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Division of Emergency Management will send more medical personnel and equipment this week to address the surge of COVID-19 cases. The move comes during the same week that El Paso County reported 3,750 new coronavirus cases, including 1,161 on Thursday. That number accounts for 17.5 percent of the 21,321 reported this week by the state's 254 counties.

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