TEXAS -- As coronavirus worsens in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has again suspended elective surgeries in order to free up hospital beds. This time, however, the suspension is limited to four counties for the time being: Travis, Bexar, Dallas and Harris.

What You Need To Know


  • Gov. Abbott suspends elective surgeries in Bexar, Travis, Harris and Dallas counties

  • Comes as hospitalizations have more than doubled in past two weeks

  • Order could be expanded to include additional counties 

  • Move designed to free up hospital beds for more COVID-19 patients 

The order is enacted as the number of patients admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 has more than doubled in Texas in the past two weeks.

Texas has emerged as one of the nation's biggest coronavirus hotspots, reporting more than 11,000 new cases in the past two days alone.

What the suspension via executive order means is hospitals must immediately postpone all surgeries and procedures that are not immediately, medically essential.

Gov. Abbott’s office stated the order gives him the authority to subtract or add to the list of affected counties based on cases in a given country and the availability of hospital beds.

“As Texas faces a rise in COVID-19 cases, we are focused on both slowing the spread of this virus and maintaining sufficient hospital capacity for COVID-19 patients,” Abbott said. “These four counties have experienced significant increases in people being hospitalized due to COVID-19 and today’s action is a precautionary step to help ensure that the hospitals in these counties continue to have ample supply of available beds to treat COVID-19 patients.

As of Thursday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Harris County is reporting 24,421 cases of the novel coronavirus, Dallas County is reporting 17,744, Travis County officially reports 6,596, and Bexar County reports 7,467.