Time to act is now

How bad must things get before Abbott gives local officials authority to order shutdowns?

The delays and denials must end. It is time for Gov. Greg Abbott to give elected officials in the Houston region and other parts of Texas being overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic the power to issue stay-at-home orders.

COVID-19 deaths in the state are rising, hospitals are running out of ICU beds, crucial supplies are running low again and the U.S. military announced last week that it is deploying medical and support personnel to the state to try to deal with a growing health-care crisis.

Even Abbott conceded last week that “the worst is yet to come.”

If this isn’t evidence of the need for a stronger response, what will it take?

Urging people to stay at home and to avoid large gatherings, and even the governor’s welcome but belated decision to issue a mandatory mask order, haven’t been enough. No one wants to close the economy again, but the alternatives are worse.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s call for a two-week shutdown is a good first step.

“Let’s look at the numbers, look at the data, see where things are,” Turner said Saturday. “And then, gradually, move forward again.”

Harris County’s stay-at-home order in March closed most businesses and directed residents to stay home unless they were going to grocery stores, running essential errands or exercising outside.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, whose earlier calls for caution and a more deliberate reopening process showed true leadership, endorsed Turner’s call and made the case for urgency in a tweet on Saturday.

“Not only do we need a stay-home order now, but we need to stick with it this time until the hospitalization curve comes down, not just flattens,” she said. “Many communities that persevered in that way are reopening for the long haul. Let’s learn from that & not make the same mistake twice.”

Separate studies published last month say that early stay-home orders and closings likely saved millions of lives during the pandemic. States that reopened quickly in late April and early May — including Texas, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Arizona — are experiencing major increases in cases and in deaths. Other states that were more cautious in reopening also are facing coronavirus spikes and are reinstating restrictions. A shutdown doesn’t mean an end to the pandemic, but it would help reduce the pressure on hospitals and provide better care.

Hidalgo’s stay-at-home and masking order was overruled by Abbott, who played to his Republican base and dismissed such mandates as an overreach by Democratic officials, going on Fox News’ “Sean Hannity” show to blast their efforts.

In television interviews Monday, the governor said that instead of seeking greater authority, local officials should enforce his face mask mandate so that another shutdown won’t be needed.

“We are still not seeing adequate enforcement of the current orders in place that are engineered to reduce the spread of COVID-19,” Abbott told KVUE. “We don’t have to have orders that will force people into impoverishment if we get enforcement of the current orders.”

But he cites no evidence that face masks alone will be enough to to avoid a major health care crisis. With an estimated 11,188 ICU beds in all of Texas, only 930 are available for new patients at the end of last week, the lowest number of available ICU beds since the Houston Chronicle started tracking the data in mid-March.

The Texas Medical Center reported Monday that 35 of 373 ICU beds available in Phase 2 of its emergency plans were filled with a move into Phase 3 expected in about two weeks. Phase 3 will mean additional medical and surgical beds would have to be converted to ICU beds at a rate that hospital officials said is not sustainable.

If the worst is still to come — and there’s no reason to doubt the governor on that — the time to act is now, not when all of the ICU beds are gone.

While we await the governor’s leadership, it’s important to remember, as the editorial board has long urged, it is up to each of us to behave responsibly to protect the life and health of others: Stay at home whenever possible, wear a mask in public and wash your hands frequently.

That is still the best medical advice but that isn’t enough for this moment.

The governor must give local officials the power to declare a stay-at-home order and to enforce it.