Texas Gov. Greg Abbott halted elective surgeries in four counties Thursday in an effort to free up hospital space for coronavirus patients.
“As Texas faces a rise in COVID-19 cases, we are focused on both slowing the spread of this virus and maintaining sufficient hospital capacity for COVID-19 patients,” Abbott said.
Bexar, Dallas, Harris, and Travis counties must “postpone all surgeries and procedures that are not immediately, medically necessary.” All four counties have recently seen upticks in new COVID-19 hospitalizations and collectively have 56,222 confirmed coronavirus cases, according to state health data.
“These four counties have experienced significant increases in people being hospitalized due to COVID-19, and today’s action is a precautionary step to help ensure that the hospitals in these counties continue to have ample supply of available beds to treat COVID-19 patients,” Abbott said.
Texas has experienced a surge in new coronavirus cases that Abbott called “unacceptable” in a Monday press conference. He said that “closing down Texas again will always be the last option.”
Abbott first halted elective surgeries to boost hospital capacity on March 13 and then lifted those restrictions on April 22. More than 4,300 people in Texas have been hospitalized for COVID-19, roughly double the number of hospitalizations on June 14. The total number of cases in Texas has surpassed 125,000, with at least 2,249 deaths.
Abbott said that if hospitalizations continue to rise, more counties could be added to the list of those barred from performing elective surgeries.
