California coronavirus cases outpaced by Texas, but state warns not to let guard down
LOS ANGELES — California is no longer the state with the highest number of coronavirus cases, as Texas officially surpassed the overall case count despite having 10 million fewer residents, data compiled by the Los Angeles Times show.
The Lone Star State's leapfrog illustrates both the magnitude to which COVID-19 cases are surging there, and the extent to which California — so far — has escaped the significant spikes striking many other parts of the United States.
But with Halloween so recently in the rearview mirror and other holidays fast approaching, state and health officials continue to stress that residents and businesses need to do their part to stymie the disease's spread and ward off any creeping sense of fatigue.
As of Monday morning, Texas had recorded 936,816 total COVID-19 cases — just above California's 935,534, according to The Times' coronavirus tracker.
When accounting for population, however, the difference between the two most populous states in the union becomes even starker. Texas has seen roughly 3,359 coronavirus infections per 100,000 residents, Times' data show, while California has recorded 2,389.
Over the last seven days, Texas has reported 42,525 new COVID-19 cases — the most in the nation and well north of California's 29,195, according to figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We've got to overcome any sense of fatigue that we might have," Dr. John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, said in a video message last week. "We have to understand how important this is, and I'm asking you, please, to redouble your efforts to take the precautions that we've asked you to do and that we have proven that work."
Those include physical distancing, regular hand-washing, wearing masks in public and avoiding gatherings with too many people you do not live with, health experts say.
— Los Angeles Times
