Texas was neck and neck with California as the state with the most confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, the latest NBC News figures showed Monday.
The Lone Star State had reported 910,124 cases since the start of the pandemic while California, which had led the nation in this woeful category for months, had 909,161, according to the tally.
While the numbers were fluid and it remained possible that California could retake the lead, the number of new cases in Texas increased at a rate of 19 percent over the past two weeks, compared to 15 percent in California.
But if Texas were an independent country, it would rank ninth in the world for total number of cases -- just ahead of Mexico, its neighbor to the south, which has 891,160, according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard.
The disturbing development comes with Election Day a little over a week away and with Texas, a once-reliable Republican bastion, suddenly in play with the latest polls showing President Donald Trump holding only a small lead over his challenger Joe Biden.
How Coronavirus Has Grown in Each State
This chart shows the cumulative number of cases per state by number of days since the 500th case.
Source: The COVID Tracking Project
Credit: Amy O’Kruk/NBC
