AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Reported coronavirus infections and hospitalizations continue to surge in Texas as Gov. Greg Abbott continues his phased reopening of the state's economic activity. The Department of State Health Services says 1,649 more cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, were reported to the state Thursday. That brings the total number of reported cases to a few cases shy of 67,000. The state reports 1,796 COVID-19 hospitalizations Thursday, a one-day increase of 309 and the third-highest Texas total of the outbreak. The 33 new COVID-19 deaths reported Thursday brought the Texas death toll for the outbreak to 1,767.

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