Texas’ coronavirus cases now make up a significantly higher proportion than its 9% share of the nation’s population.
Sarah R. Champagne
Sarah R. Champagne was a 2020 reporting fellow at The Texas Tribune. A graduate of the Université de Montréal and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Sarah contributed as a freelance reporter to publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and the Globe and Mail, filing stories from 15 countries in three languages. She has also worked for Le Devoir and the CBC in Montreal, and she is the winner of an Overseas Press Club Foundation Award. Sarah speaks French, Spanish and Italian.
Ten out of the 12 hospitals in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley are now full
“We are now at the point of grave concern,” said the CEO of one hospital system in deep South Texas as local hospitals began diverting patients away from their emergency rooms amid a crush of COVID-19 infections.
Texas won’t specify where hospital beds are available as coronavirus cases hit record highs
As coronavirus caseloads soar across Texas, hospitals are seeing a surge of new patients. But getting information on which hospitals are hardest hit is nearly impossible.
Gov. Greg Abbott bans elective surgeries in four South Texas counties to preserve hospital capacity
Elective procedures are now banned in eight counties around the state — Bexar, Dallas, Harris, Travis, Cameron, Hidalgo, Nueces and Webb.
Gov. Greg Abbott pauses Texas’ reopening, bans elective surgeries in four counties to preserve bed space for coronavirus patients
For a second time since the start of the pandemic, Abbott banned elective surgeries to preserve bed space for coronavirus patients. But this time the hold on the nonessential procedures is only in effect for Bexar, Dallas, Harris and Travis counties.
Texas’ coronavirus positivity rate exceeds “warning flag” level Abbott set as businesses reopened
In early May, Gov. Greg Abbott pointed to the positivity rate — a ratio of positive COVID-19 tests to all tests — and said anything over 10% was cause for alarm. As of Wednesday, Texas exceeded that mark for the first time since April.
Coronavirus patients crowd some Texas ICUs as Gov. Greg Abbott touts “abundant” hospital capacity
Regionally, some hospital officials are reporting that intensive care units are near or over capacity, and local leaders have warned that hospitals could get overwhelmed if the number of infections keeps climbing.
Texas is heading down a dangerous path, local leaders warn as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surge
When Gov. Greg Abbott let businesses start reopening, he pointed to two metrics as encouraging signs: the hospitalization rate and the infection rate. Both of those metrics are on the rise in Texas.
Texas coronavirus hospitalizations hit record highs for a full week
The state reported a total of 2,947 people in hospitals on Thursday.
Surge in coronavirus cases linked to more Texans in their 20s getting sick, officials say
Gov. Greg Abbott and health experts say young adults may be taking social distancing less seriously.



