Texas Has Had Thousands of Deaths Since March
The Claim
Texas hasn't reported a single death since lifting COVID restrictions in March.
News posted on
Emerging story
On Wednesday, May 19, 2021, Republican Representative Lauren Boebert appeared on the Dr. Gina Primetime TV show. She said:
“Republicans are just following the science, and since removing the mask mandate two months ago, Texas has not reported a single COVID death. Not one.”
The claim soon took off on social media.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that on March 2, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbot issued Executive Order GA-34 to lift all COVID-related restrictions, including mask mandates.
According to data sourced from the Texas Department of State Health Services, the New York Times, and the Texas Tribune, more than 3,500 Texans have died from COVID since the Executive Order was enacted.
Although the state did achieve no new COVID deaths on Sunday, May 16, there were 23 new COVID deaths on Monday. By the end of the week, the state’s new COVID death cases were back in the 50s.
Boebert said specifically that Texas “has not reported a single COVID death,” so we investigated further to make sure the deaths were properly reported. The Texas Department of State Health Services is considered the official reporter of COVID cases and deaths. Since they reported thousands of deaths since Boebert’s statement, we rate this claim as false.
