Texas governor warns of another economic shutdown due to COVID-19 spike

Houston: Texas Governor Greg Abbott warned of another economic shutdown if the fast spread of COVID-19 is not contained.

"The worst is yet to come as we work our way through that massive increase in people testing positive," Abbott told local TV station KLBK on Friday.

Texans will also likely see an increase in new coronavirus cases next week, Abbott said, urging people to abide by his face mask mandate to avoid another economic shutdown, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I made clear that I made this tough decision for one reason: It was our last best effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. If we do not slow the spread of COVID-19 ... the next step would have to be a lock-down," the governor said, referring to his mask order.

According to Texas Health and Human Services, the state added 9,765 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, making the total number of cases exceeding 240,000. Ninety-five deaths were also reported on Friday, a day after a record high of more than 100 deaths reported.