Texas Hospital Association Wants "Shelter-in-Place" Ordered Statewide

AUSTIN, TX — The Texas Hospital Association, a lobbying group for Texas hospitals, wants all Texas communities to be ordered to shelter-in-place, according to a position statement and letter to Governor Gregg Abbott the group issued early this evening.

“Given the projections and gravity of the situation, Texas hospitals support strong shelter-in-place provisions, and the Texas Hospital Association is urging all Texas communities to quickly implement these strict provisions to minimize the spread and protect our health care workers,” THA stated in a position paper. The group followed up the paper with an open letter to the governor.

The THA said the stricter rules will further reduce the spread of the virus and protect healthcare workers.

Across the state today, Waco and McLennan County, Stephens County where Breckinridge is, and Bryan/College Station along with Brazos County followed Dallas County’s decision on Sunday to order shelter in place. Hidalgo County in the Rio Grande Valley issued a mandatory curfew.

McLennan County where Waco is has seven confirmed coronavirus COVID-19 cases, according to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. Brazos and Hidalgo County have two cases each. Stephens County has no reported cases, though in its southern border, in Eastland County, one confirmed case was reported today.

Statewide, the Texas HHS was still reporting 352 cases statewide and 8 deaths. There were 65 new cases that did not yet have a county assigned. Data from Johns Hopkins (see Sick Map) showed 16 cases in McLennan County, 12 in Brazos County, and two in Hidalgo County. Governor Abbott said Sunday that the case number reporting at either the HHS or on the Johns Hopkins map has not caught up with the reality on the ground.

The THA requested the statewide shelter-in-place order include closure of non-essential business as defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The THA’s proposed order will also enforce “essential travel only.” This would otherwise forbid transportation by car, motorcycle, scooter, train, plane, or public transit in Texas.

At Monday’s White House briefing on the coronavirus, President Donald Trump hinted that social distancing guidelines and other restrictions on the economy may be eased by next week.

“We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself,” Trump said. He said he and his administration are considering the “opening of our country” once the coronavirus task force’s 15-day period of social distancing and closures were put in place last week. The end of the 15 days coincides with the end date of Governor Abbott’s March 19 order that closed bars and restaurants until 11:59 p.m. on April 3.

The Wall Street Journal this evening reported that private-sector economists project the toll of the shutdown will include 5 million jobs lost and $1.5 trillion in lost economic output. The stock markets in the U.S. have lost $12 trillion in value to date since the coronavirus restrictions were enacted, the Journal reported.

The Imperial College of London’s report on the spread of the coronavirus warns the virus will kill 2.2 million in the U.S. if nothing is done to stop its spread. At this evening’s press conference, Trump suggested that the number of deaths predicted are not coming true and that the coronavirus’s rate of death is much lower than scientists predicted. More testing is needed to better determine the true number of people infected, he said.

Johns Hopkins reported 43,901 confirmed coronavirus COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and 557 deaths nationwide.