Texas Surpasses 25,000 COVID-19 Deaths

  HOUSTON (AP) — Texas has surpassed 25,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, the second highest total in the country. State health officials reported 272 new deaths on Saturday linked to COVID-19. That brings Texas’ death toll to 25,226 overall. Cases of COVID-19 and virus-related hospitalizations continue to rise in the state. On Saturday, the state reported nearly 9,800 people hospitalized with the virus, an increase of nearly 23% over the last month. The increase in cases comes after state health officials announced Friday that Texas will receive 620,000 more doses of COVID-19 vaccines over the next week. More than 224,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have already been delivered.