AUSTIN - New cases of the coronavirus continued to soar in Texas, state health officials said Tuesday, as the number of people in the state hospitalized because of the virus stayed at spiked levels not seen in two months.
Tuesday saw the addition of 4,856 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19, more than 400 more than the 4,422 reported Monday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. The addition of 174 unreported cases from previous days pushed the increase to 5,032.
Also, 4,588 COVID-19 patients were in Texas hospitals Tuesday, the most since 4,907 cases were reported in hospitals on Aug. 26.
The new cases pushed the total of Texas cases for the pandemic in its eighth month to 833,557, 83,973 of which are now active. Those active cases are more than 1,000 more than Monday.
However, the true number of cases in Texas is likely higher though because many people haven't been tested and studies suggest people can be infected and not feel sick.
The addition of 65 fatalities Tuesday brought the Texas pandemic death toll to 17,087.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and a cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.