Which proves how rapidly it’s expanding in Texas.
While everyone knows New York has by far the highest COVID cases in the nation, there are several states behind them. Some are catching up, some are slowing down. Data shows that Texas is rapidly catching up and although our state government wants to point to the increase of testing when compared to other states, that simply isn’t true.
You can see all of the past data yourself, by using the Wayback Machine, which archives the entire internet, so you can go back and look at webpages on certain days, up to years back.
Florida, particularly was another state I was monitoring. The reasons being, because their governor was slow to act, like Abbott. What I noticed, was although both Texas and Florida’s case number were rising, there was still a huge gap, with Florida having thousands of more cases.
That gap is nearly closed, and while we all watched us inch closer to Florida’s case numbers, we also watch Texas’ numbers surpass many other states who’s infection rates were greater than ours.
From 3/28 to 4/5, you can see that Texas had the 12th highest number of cases. The reason Washington, Louisiana, and Georgia are circled, is because those are the states whose numbers Texas will surpass. The reason those particular states stand out is because what America was hearing about them in the news at the time.
The stark differences between each one of these states and how they handled their coronavirus situation couldn’t be more apparent.
In Washington State, Governor Inslee issued a stay-at-home order on March 23rd. As of today, Washington is still under a stay-at-home order, and will remain so at least until May 31. As Texas hit 40,000 cases today, Washington is still at 17,000.
Greg Abbott wants to tell us the reason our cases are going up so drastically is because more access to testing. But is that true?
| Population | Tests Done | Tests Done by Population | Total Positives | Percent of Positive Cases by Tests | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 7.6 million | 248K | 3.2% | 17K | 7.1% |
| Texas | 30 million | 513K | 1.7% | 40K | 7.7% |
While the percentage of positives per case is relatively the same, Washington has tested nearly double per capita than Texas has. Are we to assume that if we tested 3.2% of our population, as Washington did, would Texas then have 80K total positive cases? Because of the entire testing bungle in March and April, it may take us weeks to catch up to Washington’s tests per capita.
Remember, however, Washington is still under shelter-in-place orders and Texas is open for business.
By looking at the numbers, you’ll see that on April 6, Georgia dropped behind us, but then by the 9th, they jumped back in front of us as Washington fell behind us. Then, by April 11, both Washington and Georgia’s positive cases dropped behind ours.
We’ve all heard a lot in the news lately about Georgia. Even though most people agree, Abbott lifted his shelter-in-place order too soon, the Georgia Governor Brian Kemp lifted his order an entire week sooner. Kemp initially cited Trump and his guidelines for opening up sooner than any other state. Later, Trump threw Kemp under the bus when he got push-back.
Much like Abbott, Kemp is well known to be a big Trump ass-kisser. How does Georgia compare to Texas?
| Population | Tests Done | Tests Done by Population | Total Positives | Percent of Positive Cases by Tests | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 10.6 million | 251K | 2.3% | 34K | 13.5% |
| Texas | 30 million | 513K | 1.7% | 40K | 7.7% |
What’s most interesting about the numbers comparing Texas to Washington and Texas to Georgia, is that while Washington was seeing 7.1% positives cases per test done, Georgia’s number is 13.5%.
What’s the difference?
Washington is still on lock-down, Georgia’s lock-down ended more than 2 weeks ago. Is this the number that Texas will see in another week from now when we’ve been open a little more than 2 weeks. We’ll find out sooner, rather than later. Another difference is Georgia, like Washington, has tested more per capita than Texas has.
In March in April, all we kept hearing in the news was how severe the coronavirus outbreak was in Louisiana. The early explosion of coronavirus in Louisiana was largely attributed to Mardi Gras, making Louisiana one of the first states to order a shelter-in-place. Louisiana’s shelter-in-place was called more than a week before Texas, and unlike Texas, it still remains today.
How do they compare?
| Population | Tests Done | Tests Done by Population | Total Positives | Percent of Positive Cases by Tests | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 4.6 million | 220K | 4.7% | 31K | 14% |
| Texas | 30 million | 513K | 1.7% | 40K | 7.7% |
Once again, Louisiana is another state whose testing far outranks Texas. And although they called a shelter-in-place earlier than Texas did, weeks before they ordered their shelter-in-place 1.4 million people crammed themselves into New Orleans’ streets for Mardi Gras.
Is that the reason why their positive cases per test are nearly double of what Texas’ is?
If Georgia’s high percentage of positive cases per test is high because they ended their shelter-in-place too soon and Louisiana’s is high because they had over a million people partying in the streets, is this what is to come soon for Texas?
And just like that, Texas and Florida have nearly the same number of cases. While both states’ numbers have continued to rise, Texas’ cases are growing much faster than Florida’s. Here is a break-down by date:
| 4/6 | 4/9 | 4/11 | 4/15 | 4/20 | 4/30 | 5/6 | 5/7 | 5/10 | 5/11 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 12K | 16K | 17K | 21K | 26K | 33K | 38K | 38K | 40K | 40,982 |
| Texas | 7K | 10K | 12K | 15K | 19K | 27K | 34K | 35K | 38K | 40,251 |
| Difference | 5K | 6K | 5K | 6K | 7K | 6K | 4K | 3K | 2K | 700 |
How to Florida and Texas numbers compare?
| Population | Tests Done | Tests Done by Population | Total Positives | Percent of Positive Cases by Tests | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 21.4 million | 561K | 2.6% | 40K | 7.1% |
| Texas | 30 million | 513K | 1.7% | 40K | 7.7% |
Florida ordered a shelter-in-place a few days after Texas. And while Texas has already opened back up, Florida has only opened up parts of their state. The counties in Florida which have been hardest hit by coronavirus are still under a stay-at-home order. The only thing that’s clear, is once again Florida has done more testing than Texas.
What will the next few weeks bring?
Texas’ positive cases per test rate have been similar to Washington and Florida, however, Washington and Florida are still on lock-down, (at least some places in Florida).
What is most apparent is that our case numbers are rising fast and closing gaps. With 1,000+ new cases every day for the last 7 days, we will likely pass Florida and have the 8th highest COVID cases in America. Now that the state is open and our Republican neighbors think it’s just a hoax or just like the flu, it is inevitable that our numbers will continue to grow.
It’s more important than ever to vote in this year’s cycle. Republicans got us in this situation, and the way we get out of it is to get them out of office.
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