Coronavirus: Texas Halts Elective Surgeries, Eases Hospital Rules

AUSTIN, TX — Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday issued a pair of executive orders designed to combat the growing scourge of new coronavirus — one barring elective or non-necessary surgeries and another allowing hospitals to essentially doubling up by accommodating more than one patient in a room at the same time.

Abbott was joined in a press briefing that occurred on Sunday at 3 p.m. by Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner Dr. John Hellerstedt and Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd.

Abbott's order related to freeing up space at hospitals by allowing medical facilities to treat two patients at a time per hospital room results in the allocation of some 50 percent more hospital beds to patients afflicted with the respiratory ailment virus, the governor said. He said the result is "countless" more beds secured as a result of his order.

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The second gubernatorial order halts all elective and non-essential and elective surgeries as a move to further free up hospital space expressly for coronavirus patients, the governor said. The only exception to the order is if death would be likely to result for lack of such medical treatment, Abbott noted.

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Abbott also sought to clarify on the likelihood of a "shelter-in-place" decree being issued statewide. Abbott said he would not issue such a directive based on the current spread of illness that has more than 200 of the state's 254 counties still coronavirus-free.

"At this time, it's not the appropriate response," Abbott said before noting he would "always remain flexible" to change the assessment depending on future illness spread.

Reminding of his earlier deployment of Texas State Guard members to assist health care workers, Abbott pointed to scenarios of such aid revolving around Saturday's launch of testing sites in major Texas cities. Austin health officials officials on Saturday pointed to launch of the first local testing collection point for detection of the new coronavirus — one of 11 test collection points built through a public-private partnership among Austin Public Health, St. David's, Ascension Seton, UT Health Austin (Dell Medical School) and Baylor Scott & White.

"There are now drive-thru testing facilities," Abbott noted. "They could help with pre clearing and screening of vehicles. The Guard can be dispatched for that."

The governor called for federal officials to immediately make available much-needed protective equipment for health care workers and other related supplies: "If someone can sell us PPEs, we'll cut them a check on the spot," Abbott said, referring to personal protective equipment in short supply amid hoarding of supplies by residents who are not medical workers. "We have the money for it, but the supplies are not available for us to be able to purchase."

In that vein, Abbott also announced the appointment of Keith Meyers — the senior vice president of worldwide procedures at Dell Technologies Inc. as head of a "strike force" to secure health-related supplies from the global marketplace. Meyers has taken a leave of absence from Dell in assisting the state government "...to work with us temporarily to ensure we have the supplies we need," Abbott explained.

The governor said he also is exploring the idea of using hotel facilities as a makeshift hospital of sorts to treat those felled by the virus. No further details were released on that front.

The briefing was livestreamed on a Facebook events page.

Once known simply as new coronavirus, COVID-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that's a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that have triggered outbreaks in the past. To date, there have been 304 positive cases of the respiratory ailment detected across the state, including 5 fatalities, according to continually updated figures from the Texas Department of State Health Services.