Hospitalizations growing sharply

Texas has surpassed 5,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients for the first time as Gov. Greg Abbott continues a dramatic retreat in his aggressive reopening.

In Houston, county officials Friday elevated a public threat warning system to the highest level. “We never brought the curve all the way down. We only flattened it,” said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.

Hospitalizations in Texas have now skyrocketed more than threefold over the past month. New records are set daily, and Abbott has brought back a ban on elective surgeries to free up beds.

The governor’s latest orders shuttered bars indefinitely and ordered restaurant dining rooms to scale back on seating customers.