The number of hospitalized in Kerrville ticked up again as COVID-19 cases soared across Texas on Wednesday.
At Peterson Regional Medical Center, 27 were hospitalized with COVID-19 — up from 26 on Tuesday. Peterson said 21 people tested positive for the virus.
On Wednesday, Texas endured another huge spike of positive cases with more than 25,000. There were 12,400 hospitalized, and the number of deaths has inched up each day.
The Texas Department of State Health Services warned that the Delta variant of COVID-19 is worsening hospital conditions.
"Hospital capacity concerns worsening,'' the agency tweeted. "Fatalities are increasing faster. The Delta variant has Texas in one of its worst fights all pandemic."
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On Wednesday, the DSHS had logged reports of more than 170 deaths — not all of those are from the same day. Trends indicate that Texas will return to more than 100 deaths per day in the coming days and weeks.
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In other developments:
- The federal Food and Drug Administration said it authorized booster shots for vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna.
- The Texas Tribune reported that El Paso County issued a county-wide mask mandate in defiance of Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order banning such orders.
- The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Tarrant County doctors are warning of a medical disaster if people don't start getting vaccinated, practicing rigid social distancing. https://www.star-telegram.com/news/coronavirus/article253584149.html
- The Paris Independent School District said it was changing its dress code to get around Abbott's mask ban in schools. The northeast Texas school district said Abbott had suspended Chapter 11 of the Texas Education code to prevent it from changing its dress code.
- On that note, President Joe Biden said he will take legal action against governors that continue to ban mask mandates — a barb directed at Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-require-nursing-homes-mandate-vaccinations-staff-or-lose-federal-n1277107?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
- Fourteen disabled children and their parents filed a federal lawsuit against Abbott, saying that he violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by issuing a masking ban. Austin TV station KXAN said: "The lawsuit seeks a federal temporary restraining order which would cease enforcement of the executive order and allow school districts and local public health authorities the ability to freely require masks." https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/14-children-with-disabilities-file-first-federal-lawsuit-against-gov-abbott-over-mask-ban/?utm_source=t.co&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=referral
