Coronavirus Live Updates: Newly Reported U.S. Cases Climb After Dip

Texas continues to tally a record number of new daily Covid-19 infections, as the Fall surge drubs parts of the state.

The state’s 7-day moving average of new Covid-19 cases, which smooths out irregularities in the data, was nearly 11,000 on Monday, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

It has remained above 10,000 every day but one since Nov. 15. In July, during the summer surge, the state’s 7-day average was above 10,000 for six days in a row.

Hard-hit El Paso County still has the most active Covid-19 cases in the state, even as hospitalizations have declined slightly from record highs set in November.

The county, which has a population of 839,000, has had more than 86,000 cases since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, 37,600 of which are currently active cases. In contrast, Harris County, which has a population of 4.7 million and contains most of the city of Houston, has recorded more than 190,000 total infections, 19,000 of which are considered active.

On Sunday, El Paso Mayor Dee Margo said contact tracing data in November showed that over 50% of infections were coming from large retail stores but transmission among family members was still a primary driver of the virus’s spread in the area.

“We’re a multigenerational community and family is big,” Mr. Margo told CBS’s “Face The Nation.”

In the hope of keeping hospitalizations down, Gov. Greg Abbott said last week that the state was creating a “bamlanivimab infusion wing“ in El Paso, where people with Covid-19 could receive Eli Lilly’s antibody drug as outpatients. Earlier in November, the Texas National Guard sent troops to El Paso to help the city’s morgues cope with a surge in the number of deaths from Covid-19.

The two most populous states in the nation, Texas and California, have both recorded 1.2 million total cases of Covid-19, but have diverged on the possible paths going forward.

On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom warned of possible new stay-at-home orders, as projections showed intensive-care units in the state could be overwhelmed within less than a month. Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, said counties in the Golden State could be placed under more stringent measures like those seen in the spring.

Mr. Abbott, a Republican, has said Texas wouldn’t have another lockdown. Some restrictions, however, could be added based on an order the governor issued in October. That order said that if Covid-19 patients account for more than 15% of a region’s hospital capacity for seven consecutive days, new restrictions and reopening rollbacks would be initiated in those areas. Measures would include closing bars and a drop in business capacity limits.

The hospital region that includes Dallas has seen more than four consecutive days with more than 15% of beds taken by Covid-19 patients.