Texas Department of Public Safety State Troopers, wearing masks due to the coronavirus, check motorists at a checkpoint in Orange, Texas, near the

By Geoff Herbert, , Post-Standard

Texas is the first U.S. state to hit 1 million coronavirus cases, nearly double that of New York.

NBC reports Texas confirmed 1,000,589 cases of COVID-19 on Friday night, eclipsing California for the highest number of cases. Texas passed California, which has 968,000 cases as of Friday, last month; California is the most populous state with 39 million residents, and Texas is second with 29 million.

Florida is third with 833,000 cases, according to The New York Times.

New York is fourth with 527,000 cases, despite having the most cases in the nation at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Pennsylvania has had about 224,000 coronavirus cases and 9,000 deaths. It reported a one-day record number of new cases on Friday – 3,384 – and has seen hospitalizations rise.

New York still has more coronavirus deaths than any other state with 33,664, according to John Hopkins University, but NBC notes New York City was especially hit hard early in March and April when testing was limited and scientists were still learning about the virus.

Texas has the second-most deaths from COVID-19 with 19,046 as of Saturday morning, followed by 17,938 deaths in California and 17,014 deaths in Florida.

NBC reports 91% of Texas deaths from COVID-19 have occurred since May, and deaths haven rise 10% over the past two weeks.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott previously paused the state’s reopening in June as Texas hospitals became overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients, but didn’t issue a statewide mask mandate until July. The El Paso Times reports hot spots like El Paso have seen intensive care units go over capacity this past week, forcing the county to shut down nonessential businesses.

Many states have seen a surge in coronavirus cases while America’s attention has been on the election. NBC reports new cases were up 40% in Texas and 31% in California over the past two weeks as the U.S. topped 100,000 new daily cases for the first time this week, reaching a record high of 122,365 cases Friday.

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