AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Texas is starting to return to work.
For the first time since early April, every restaurant and retailer across the state Friday is allowed to open doors to customers, although more widely in some cities than others.
But Texas is also reopening amid the grim milestone of the deadliest single day here since the state’s first coronavirus case in March.
State health officials Thursday reported 50 new fatalities, which is a single-day record high for Texas.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s office reacted to the numbers with calm. A spokesman says hospitalizations remain steady and that infection rates per test are down.