The grey line shows the total number of COVID-19 related deaths since March 16, 2020; the dark blue line shows the number of COVID-19 related deaths reported by day; the orange dots show the total number of deaths reported by week, Monday through Sunday.
On July 26-27 the DSHS announced they would begin using death certificates as confirmation of COVID-19 related deaths for both faster reporting and greater access to demographic data. That resulted in hundreds of additional deaths being added to Texas' toll at that time - deaths the DSHS said would have been reported over the coming days.