SAN ANTONIO – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott visited Lubbock and will head to El Paso on Thursday to meet with local officials and to give updates on the coronavirus pandemic.
He is slated to give a news conference in El Paso at 3 p.m. and it will be livestreamed in this article. If there is not a livestream available, check back at a later time.
Recommended Videos
Abbott first spoke in Lubbock and addressed the decrease in COVID-19 testing across the state, even as students head back to school.
He said the demand has dropped off in recent weeks and the state has coordinated fewer surge testing sites. He said he expects the number of tests to increase in the coming days as a surge testing site will return to Houston.
The state is working on strategies to increase testing in education settings, he added.
Gov. Greg Abbott discusses bars, college football in latest COVID-19 update
On Wednesday, Texas surpassed 9,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths as testing for COVID-19 dropped to the lowest levels since June.
More than 1,600 confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 were added to the tally over the last week alone, the Associated Press reported.
On Tuesday, tests fell below a rolling seven-day average of 29,000 for the first time since June.
The positivity rate stands at 24.5% — the highest rate since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.