Peter Wells in New York
Texas reported its smallest daily jump in coronavirus deaths in a week, but its efforts to clear a backlog of historical tests has brought it close to surpassing Florida as the US state with the second-highest tally of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.
A further 2,595 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the Lone Star state over the past 24 hours, up from 1,840 on Sunday and compared with 2,057 new cases a week ago.
A combined 1,416 historical cases from the regions surrounding Dallas and San Antonio, stemming from a backlog of tests, were added to the statewide total, but omitted from today’s total.
That took the total number of confirmed cases in Texas since the start of the pandemic to 663,445, which is just 2,285 shy of Florida, the US state with the second-highest number of infections. California leads with nearly 758,000 cases.
A further 21 people died from Covid-19, state health authorities revealed this evening, down from 47 on Sunday and compared with 20 a week ago. Over the past seven days, Texas has averaged about 100 deaths a day.
Texas has reported 14,211 coronavirus-related fatalities since the start of the pandemic, 174 short of California’s tally, which is the third-highest among US states.
Monday figures tend to be lower, owing to weekend delays in reporting. Comparisons with the previous week may be complicated by last Monday’s Labor Day holiday.