HOUSTON – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott suspended elective surgeries at hospitals in all counties within 11 of the 22 Trauma Service Areas in Texas on Thursday, including in most Houston-area counties.
Abbott previously suspended elective surgeries at hospitals in eight Texas counties seeing the highest surge of coronavirus cases and Harris County was included in that list. As coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to surge around the state, Abbott expanded the suspension to free up hospital bed resources “to address upticks in COVID-19 related cases.”
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The Houston-area counties fall within two Trauma Service Areas in the state of Texas. These are the counties included in this expanded proclamation:
Trauma Service Area Q: Austin, Colorado, Fort Bend, Matagorda, Montgomery, Walker, Waller, and Wharton counties.
Trauma Service Area R: Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Newton, and Orange counties.
All hospitals in all the counties noted in Abbott’s order will be required to postpone surgeries and procedures that are not immediately and medically necessary. The procedures that will be allowed to continue are those which are “necessary to correct a serious medical condition or to preserve the life of a patient who without immediate performance of the surgery or procedure would be at risk for serious adverse medical consequences or death, as determined by the patient’s physician.”
As of 1:30 p.m. Thursday, there have been 220,564 cases of coronavirus reported in the state with about 104,467 of them considered active cases. There have also been 2,813 deaths and 112,284 estimated recoveries. About 9,610 lab-confirmed COVID-19 patients are currently seeking treatment in Texas hospitals, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
“The State of Texas will continue to do everything we can to mitigate the spread of this virus and support our hospitals and health care professionals as they care for their fellow Texans,” he said in a release Thursday. “We must all come together and continue to practice social distancing, wear a face covering in public, and stay home when possible.”
If the need arises, Abbott said he can add or remove counties from the list included in his original executive order to address surges in hospitalizations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
See a map of Houston-area counties that are included in the proclamation below:
All the Texas counties included in the proclamation:
All counties within TSA J: Andrews, Brewster, Crane, Ector, Glasscock, Howard, Jeff Davis, Loving, Martin, Midland, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, Terrell, Upton, Ward, and Winkler counties.
All counties within TSA K: Coke, Concho, Crockett, Irion, Kimble, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Reagan, Runnels, Schleicher, Sterling, Sutton, and Tom Green counties.
All counties within TSA M: Bosque, Falls, Hill, Limestone, and McLennan counties.
All counties within TSA O: Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee, Llano, San Saba, and Williamson counties.
All counties within TSA P: Atascosa, Bandera, Comal, Dimmit, Edwards, Frio, Gillespie, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kinney, La Salle, Maverick, Medina, Real, Uvalde, Val Verde, Wilson, and Zavala counties.
All counties within TSA Q: Austin, Colorado, Fort Bend, Matagorda, Montgomery, Walker, Waller, and Wharton counties.
All counties within TSA R: Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Newton, and Orange counties.
All counties within TSA S: Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Jackson, Lavaca, and Victoria counties.
All counties within TSA T: Jim Hogg and Zapata counties.
All counties within TSA U: Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Live Oak, McMullen, Refugio, and San Patricio counties.
All counties within TSA V: Starr and Willacy counties.