December 14, 2020, 8:30 AM) U.S Army critical care nurses 1st Lt. Charles Gilcrist and 1st Lt. Lauryn Hudgins from Urban Augmentation Medical Task Force – 627 work to provide medical care to a COVID-19 patient alongside Baptist Hospital medical staff in San Antonio, July 10, 2020. Hospitals across Texas are struggling under the weight of the state's worst COVID-19 surge yet. And the situation is likely to get worse. Since the beginning of December, the state has set records for the first, second and third highest number of daily cases ever. Confirmed cases typically precede hospitalizations by up to a week. As of Sunday, there were nearly 9,200 Texans hospitalized â the most since July.