Texas governor says state facing 'massive' COVID-19 outbreak

[left-of-center2012]

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that the state is facing a “massive outbreak” in the coronavirus pandemic and that some new local restrictions may be needed to protect hospital space for new patients. “There is a massive outbreak of COVID-19 across the state of Texas," Abbott said in an interview with KFDA-TV in Amarillo.

With new cases and the number of COVID-19 patients rising rapidly, "We are looking at greater restrictions and some could be localized,” Abbott said Wednesday without detailing what those would be or where. “There are some regions in the state of Texas that are running tight on hospital capacity that may necessitate a localized strategy to make sure that hospital beds will be available," he said.

Abbott, who aggressively pushed to reopen the state in May, acknowledged state officials are closely watching hospital space.

Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, the largest pediatric hospital in the U.S. said Tuesday that it was admitting adult patients across its campuses to free up more hospital bed space in the Houston area. The number of COVID-19-positive hospital patients in Harris County, which encompasses Houston, has nearly tripled since May 31.

Read more: https://www.galvnews.com/news_ap/texas/article_e0d06075-cc98-598a-9899-3ddb557d90a7.html?block_id=531919

[left-of-center2012]

1. US shifts virus testing support, raising concern in Texas

The Trump administration is shifting support for COVID-19 testing centers to private pharmacies and health centers, causing concern in Texas where the bulk of government-backed sites remain and where virus cases are skyrocketing.

There are 13 federally supported testing sites in five states, seven of which are in Texas, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Federal backing for the 13 sites ends June 30, when it will be refocused on 600 pharmacy sites and 1,300 health centers, Brett Giroir, the assistant U.S. health secretary, said in an email.

The shift comes as Texas is among several states now seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases after reopening. On Tuesday, Texas recorded more than 5,000 new cases, a record for the state.

https://www.stripes.com/news/us/us-shifts-virus-testing-support-raising-concern-in-texas-1.635071

[Eyeball_Kid]

4. Atta boy Greg Abbott! You're following your buddy to the dust bin of political history.

All you had to do was shadow Trumpy-boy, so you thought, and you'd skate through this pandemic bullshit and onto more and more GOP victories. Keep America Great, Greg. Who knows? Maybe if you kept your lips puckered, Trumpy-boy would notice your exquisite ability to suck and he'd load you onto the White House Trumpy Train and you'd chug off to fascist heaven.

But something happened on your way to keeping America great. The people of Texas will look at YOU when their parents die off. They'll look at YOU when their kids die or get debilitating organ damage. They'll look at YOU when they remember how eagerly you were willing to lift the shutdown and get that money flowing again, come hell or high water. Or the clear foreknowledge that suffering and death would skyrocket in Texas for the sake of big business. Oh. I notice that YOU avoided getting infected because YOU didn't want to sacrifice your life for the economy, did you? But you want the rest of Texas to lay down their lives for the flow of money. How thoughty of you.

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. Really, Guv.? Now who could have predicted that?

SMH...

[Thomas Hurt]

3. and it's all the poor folks, brown folks, liberals, and alien lizardmen's fault...

certainly not the christofascist theocrat Abbott's, right....

[DBoon]

5. but I thought some people would have to die for the economy?

Is Abbott now having second thoughts about human sacrifice?

[gibraltar72]

6. Now! a warning?

[dlk]

7. Religious zealots love to deny the facts

The real world continues, regardless.

[ResistantAmerican17]

8. Opened too soon. Screwed the pooch. Punted to mayors

to make them deal with the crisis. That, folks, is good ol’ Texan republican leadership. Fuck ‘em all sideways!!!

[Javaman]

9. NOW he gets all worried.

asshole abbott strikes again.

lead, follow or get the living fuck out of the way.