Half of that will come from the LiftFund, a Goldman Sachs program purposed to provide small businesses with capital during difficult times.
That total is part of a broader $550 million nationwide effort by the investment banking monolith.
The governor also provided an update to the latest COVID-19 numbers in Texas.
To date, over 133,000 tests have been completed and 13,827 positive cases. Notably, this would be the first update in which Texas has come in above the 10 percent positive testing rate. So far, 2,269 Texans have recovered — still the second-highest total number of recoveries in the U.S. — and 286 have died from COVID-19.
Thus far, 1,176 hospitalizations have occurred due to COVID-19.
The governor described these numbers as “glimmers of hope with little red flags attached.”
One analytical observation made by the governor was that positive testing rates decline on Sundays, but further stipulated he does not know if that is due to a lower testing rate.
Additionally, the percent rate of increase in positive tests day-to-day is 10 percent — down from 12 percent on Friday.
Later this week, the governor said he will announce his plan to begin reopening businesses. On that, he stipulated, “This is not going to be a rush the gates everyone will be able to open at once thing.” Rather, the plan will entail the creation of a group whose purpose is to analyze and nail down the best strategies to reopen businesses while still prioritizing “health and safety.”
Another announcement will be coming this week regarding Texas’ schools.
No dates for the announcements were specified.
Over the weekend, the Texas Workforce Commission increased its number of unemployment claims paid to over 1.1 million, amounting to $400 million in benefits doled out.
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Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson is a senior reporter for The Texan and an Ohio native who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. He is an avid sports fan who most enjoys watching his favorite teams continue their title drought throughout his cognizant lifetime. In his free time, you may find Brad quoting Monty Python productions and trying to calculate the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.