TOPLINE

Top officials in Houston are saying they'd like to see the city put under a stay-at-home order for two weeks, even though they don't have direct authority to do so, as a way to hopefully stem the spread of coronavirus in a city that has recently become one of the nation's pandemic epicenters.

TOPSHOT - A healthcare worker tends to a patient in the Covid-19 Unit at United Memorial Medical ... [+]

AFP via Getty Images

KEY FACTS

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, signaled his support for a new stay-at-home order Saturday and was joined by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a Democrat who serves as the county's top executive, on Sunday.

Harris County, which includes the city of Houston, has been the hardest-hit county in Texas.

There are over 27,000 active coronavirus cases in Harris County-more than twice that of any other county in the state, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, and more people have died of coronavirus in Harris County than anywhere else in Texas.

ICUs at the massive Texas Medical Center are also now operating above their normal capacities-103% as of Sunday.

The health system has now entered surge capacity for its ICUs, providing more beds and staffing that will allow for more patients than the ICUs can normally handle.

Statewide, Texas reported 8,196 new cases Sunday, 80 deaths and a record high of 10,410 patients hospitalized for coronavirus.

KEY BACKGROUND

Harris County doesn't have direct authority to issue new stay-at-home orders-that power rests with Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican. Abbott, who has ordered bars to shut down in the state, put tighter restrictions on restaurant capacity and issued a mask mandate, has said that "the next step would have to be a lockdown." But so far he hasn't given local authorities the ability to decide for themselves, even as officials from the state's largest cities have asked to be able to do so.

CRITICAL QUOTE

FURTHER READING

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner in favor of a 'step back,' two-week shut down to reduce COVID-19 spread (Houston Chronicle)

Gov. Greg Abbott warns if spread of COVID-19 doesn't slow, "the next step would have to be a lockdown" (Texas Tribune)

Local Officials In Texas Ask For Possible Return To Stay-At-Home Orders (Forbes)

Texas Mandates Mask Wearing (Forbes)

I'm a New Orleans-based news reporter for Forbes covering the U.S. South and breaking news. Previously, I wrote for The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate covering

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