TEXAS — On the same day that President Biden announced sweeping new vaccination orders Texas again reported troubling COVID-19 case numbers and fatalities.


What You Need To Know

  • Texas on Thursday reported 29,607 new cases of COVID-19, 23,700 of which are confirmed and 5,907 of which are probable

  • There are 13,486 Texans currently hospitalized with the virus, 3,759 of whom are adults in intensive care 

  • President Biden on Thursday announced new vaccination orders that will require businesses with more than 100 workers to mandate vaccination or offer weekly testing

  • Calling the orders a "power grab," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed to fight the Biden administration on the issue

The Texas Department of State Health Services on Thursday reported 23,700 new confirmed cases of the virus as well as 5,907 new probable cases. The state additionally reported 408 more fatalities attributed to the delta variant-fueled disease.

A total 13,486 Texans are currently hospitalized with the virus, 9,406 of whom are adults in general hospital beds, 3,759 of whom are adults in intensive care and 321 of whom are pediatric patients.

A total 2,888 Texas patients are on ventilators.

The state has only 270 available staffed adult ICU beds and just 93 available pediatric ICU beds.

Johns Hopkins University researchers put the Texas COVID-19 death toll at 59,338 and the current testing positivity rate at 12.20%. Less than half of Texas’ nearly 30 million residents are fully vaccinated.

President Biden's new orders will require employers with more than 100 workers to mandate immunizations or offer weekly testing. The new rules could affect as many as 100 million Americans, although it's not clear how many of those people are currently unvaccinated.

Large swaths of the private sector have already stepped in to mandate shots for at least some of their employees. But Biden said Thursday that "many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million Americans who are not fully vaccinated.”

Describing the orders as a “power grab,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted Thursday that he intends to fight the Biden administration’s vaccination orders.

“Biden’s vaccine mandate is an assault on private businesses. I issued an Executive Order protecting Texans’ right to choose whether they get the COVID vaccine & added it to the special session agenda. Texas is already working to halt this power grab,” Abbott wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.