Abbott brushes off surge at hospitals
Despite record number of COVID-19 patients being treated, governor rejects mask mandate
Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday dismissed growing alarm over hospitals now swelling with coronavirus patients, insisting there is still plenty of space available even as some facilities have neared or surpassed capacity.
Speaking on yet another day of record high hospitalizations, Abbott rejected new calls from municipal leaders for stricter safety requirements and said he is confident the state can continue to reopen as long as everyday Texans pitch in to contain the spread of new infections.
“As we begin to open up Texas and Texans return to their jobs, we remain laser-focused on maintaining abundant hospital capacity,” said Abbott, a Republican. “The best way to contain the spread of this virus is by all Texans working together and following simple safety precautions.”
“If it continues to grow at this rate, we’re going to be in real trouble.”
Bill McKeon, CEO of the Texas Medical Center
On Tuesday, the Department of State Health Services reported just over 2,500 COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals, the highest singleday total since the pandemic began and nearly 67 percent more than on Memorial Day in late May. State and local leaders have pointed to the holiday weekend as one likely cause for the increase.
Statewide, there are still thou
sands of hospital beds and ventilators available. But in some of the largest cities, including San Antonio, Houston and Dallas, the surge is pushing new limits. In Harris County, some hospitals said late last week that their intensive care units were near or above capacity.
Bill McKeon, CEO of the Texas Medical Center, said the group’s number of COVID-19 patients has nearly doubled from its previous peak in late April. Many of the patients admitted now are younger and generally healthier, but are still susceptible to serious illness or death from the disease.
“If it continues to grow at this rate, we’re going to be in real trouble,” McKeon said of the admissions. He added that while it doesn’t seem feasible to reimpose lockdowns or other restrictions, state leaders should consider slowing the reopening if the uptick continues.
Abbott, though, appears committed to seeing the economic revival through, saying he also expects schools to reopen in the fall with students and teachers in classrooms. He has argued that the state’s overall death rate from COVID-19 is still low compared to other states, and that new cases are coming mostly from nursing homes, jails and prisons, where testing has increased and cases are easier to contain.
The governor also revived an earlier claim that Texans under the age of 30 represent a large portion of new cases, citing news accounts from select counties, and suggested that bars reopening could be the cause. On Monday, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission threatened to temporarily close down bars that fail to comply with limits on occupancy.
Abbott remained unwilling Tuesday to allow local officials to enforce their own mask ordinances, even as he acknowledged that many Texans are not wearing them. He instead accused Democratic county judges of not having done enough to punish businesses that fail to comply with other protocols, such as limits on public gatherings.
While they have the authority, Abbott said, many
“haven’t lifted a finger.”
There have been thousands of citations issued since March over emergency violations, though analyses by Propublica and the Dallas Morning News found that they varied widely by county. On Tuesday, mayors in several cities, including Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth, sent a letter to the governor pleading for the ability to mandate masks.
“People in many of our cities are still refusing to wear these face coverings even though these coverings are scientifically proven to help prevent the disease from spreading,” they wrote. “A one-size-fits-all approach is not the best option … We should trust local officials to make informed choices about health policy.”
The Texas Democratic Party said Tuesday’s recordhigh hospitalizations is even more evidence of a failed top-down response to the pandemic.
“Texans can do and deserve much better,” said spokesman Abhi Rahman. “While other states continue to see their cases fall, cases in Texas continue to increase. This is because of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s mismanagement.”
Cases are rising quickly in several southern states, including Arizona, Georgia and Florida, which avoided early surges and were among the first states to begin relaxing restrictions. Like those, Texas is also seeing record increases, reporting 2,622 new cases on Tuesday, the highest since the pandemic began. The state’s rolling average is now more than 2,000 cases per day.
Abbott has attributed much of that to expanded testing and isolated outbreaks, though new cases have often outpaced testing in recent weeks. His remarks on Tuesday appeared to mirror language pushed Monday by the Trump administration, based on audio of a phone call that the New York Times obtained between governors and Vice President Mike Pence.
On Tuesday, Abbott singled out a handful of counties where he said cases appeared to have risen, but where the actual story was likely less worrisome. He noted that one county’s spike had been from a computer error, and another has a large prison population.
In Hays County, he said it appeared that several day’s worth of results had been bundled into one, making the situation seem more dire than it was.
State Rep. Erin Zwiener, a Democrat who represents the area, disputed the assessment.
“While I appreciate his attention to our circumstances, his comments contained several inaccuracies that minimize the severity of the situation in Hays County,” she said in a statement. “We are seeing exponential growth in cases, and our community has every reason to take action.”