White House task force urges action to curb COVID spread in Texas

Governor Greg Abbott should act immediately to save lives

TexPIRG Education Fund

AUSTIN–As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) rages across Texas, federal officials urged Texas lawmakers Tuesday to take immediate action to curb the spread of the virus, according to a recent report. 

Hospitalizations in Texas have jumped 24 percent in the last two weeks. Those numbers will likely rise and overtax the state’s hospitals after too many Texans and other Americans ignored the warnings of health experts and traveled and gathered for Thanksgiving. 

Bay Scoggin, TexPIRG Director, issued the following statement in response:

“COVID-19 is raging out of control in Texas. We have already lost far too many lives to the virus. Given how widespread the virus is now, the best way to break the chains of transmission and get cases down quickly is by instituting a temporary stay-at-home order across the state, painful as that may sound.

“Texas hospitals are filling up, and that could get much worse in the coming days as the fallout from Thanksgiving gatherings hits. Every moment Governor Abbott waits to take decisive action puts more people at risk. In addition to issuing a stay-at-home order, the governor should work to significantly increase Texas’s testing and contact tracing capacity.

“This is a bitter pill to swallow, but it is the right thing to do to protect public health and our economy. It comes down to this — how many lives will we choose to save?”

Read TexPIRG Public Health Campaigns Director Matt Wellingon’s piece on “How many lives will we choose to save?”