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Mayor Turner says Houston's increase in coronavirus cases 'cannot and should not' be attributed to the protests

In May, Texas leaders said they expected the number of COVID-19 cases to increase as the state continues with its reopening plans.

HOUSTON — Mayor Sylvester Turner says the COVID-19 positive cases have been increasing for the last two weeks as well as hospitalizations.

Houston’s health department reported 307 new cases on Monday bringing the city’s total 8,845.

The mayor explains this is a two-day cumulative total because the Houston Health Department does not report on Sundays.

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Unfortunately, the total number of deaths in Houston also increased by one to 143.

In a tweet, the mayor said this current rise cannot and should not be attributed to the mass protests and demonstrators, however.

Texas was expecting an uptick in cases as the state continues to reopen

On Monday, the state also saw its highest number of hospitalizations reported with 1,935. Data shows the number steadily increase since around Memorial Day.

In early May, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott admitted his office was expecting a rise in cases as Texas moved along with its reopening plans. At the time he said he was confident Texas hospitals can handle it.

RELATED: Don't let your guard down: Medical Center continues to see more and more patients with coronavirus

Houston's upward trend

Now, let's focus again on the Greater Houston area including data from 19 counties.

The data shows an upward trend, with the 14 days moving average for new cases, and on Saturday, when the area saw a surge with 835 new cases reported.

That's the most since the start of the pandemic.

Sunday saw a big drop off. Then yesterday, we were back up, but still lower than that weekend spike.

KHOU 11 News will continue to monitor the trends.

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