AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas has surpassed 9,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients for the first time since a deadly summer outbreak.
The spread of the pandemic is now taking a toll even near the desert artist hub of Marfa, where tourists are putting locals on edge and officials are urging people to stay home.
It’s the largest city in Presidio County, where in the past two weeks the number of cases since the pandemic began has doubled to at least 460 confirmed cases.
Texas reported more than 15,000 new cases Tuesday, smashing the previous single-day record.
State health officials attributed at least some of the spike to a lag in reporting over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend
FILE – In this Sept. 6, 2016 file photo, dusk settles in over Prada Marfa, an art installation in Valentine, Texas. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) 
FILE – In this March 7, 2019 photo, a welcome to Marfa sign is posted off of Highway 90. (Jacob Ford/Odessa American via AP)
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