It’ll happen if the COVID-19 hospitalization rate remains above 15% of hospital capacity for one more consecutive day.
As COVID-19 case numbers continue to climb, the Houston region is on the verge of reaching a new critical point.
“Right now, the 14-day average is off the charts at 1,700 new cases on average reported every single day,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said.
Governor Greg Abbott’s executive order states that if Trauma Service Area Q – which includes Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Austin, Colorado, Matagorda, Walker, Waller and Wharton Counties – has seven consecutive days of COVID-19 hospitalizations above 15% of total hospital capacity, certain indoor businesses will have to go back to 50% occupancy and elective surgeries will have to stop. Bars will also have to close.
“We are getting perilously close to that,” Houston Health Authority Dr. David Persse said.
On Monday, the region reported its sixth straight day with COVID-19 hospitalizations over 15%, coming in at 18.21%. The state reports the previous day’s numbers, so that percentage was for Sunday.
“Things are getting worse,” Hidalgo said. “Things are not improving, and this may just be the tip of the iceberg.”
Other trauma service areas around the Houston area have already rolled back re-openings. The region that includes Brazoria, Chambers, and Galveston Counties had to roll back, as did the region that includes Liberty, Grimes, and Brazos counties.
The rollbacks are part of Abbott’s Executive Order GA-32, which was signed back in October to expand business openings. Indoor businesses can go back to 75% capacity and elective surgeries can resume when the number drops below 15% for seven consecutive days.
“Obviously I welcome the governor’s threshold, but I’m concerned it’s not enough and likely a little too late,” Hidalgo said.
A spokeswoman for Abbott says shutting down bars and a slight reduction in capacity at restaurants worked in places like El Paso and Midland-Odessa. If Houston’s rollback is triggered, they’re confident it can work again.
A region must then stay below 15% COVID hospitalizations for seven straight days for bars to reopen and restrictions to be lifted. Officials expect hospitalizations to keep climbing and if that happens, deaths will spike, too.
“In July, 1,200 people died in that single month. This (month) could very well be worse than that,” Hidalgo said.
COVID-19 patients represent a little more than half of all patients currently in North Texas ICUs, officials said and major counties have less than 10 ICU beds open.
As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to reach “dire” levels across the state, Texas Health Resources announced it will postpone all outpatient elective and non-essential surgeries and procedures.
“Our inventory of PPE and ventilators is strong. We’re mainly concerned about our supply of healthcare workers and the many months of stressful work they’ve endured in the care of these patients,” spokesperson Amanda Huffman said.
The pause at its “14 wholly-owned hospitals” is because the group is dealing with such a high number of COVID-19 patients. The disease is causing “a severe stress on inpatient and emergency department bed capacity and staffing resources,” according to the spokesperson.
“This, along with record numbers of COVID-19 positive cases in our communities, demands that our hospitals initiate their surge plans to accommodate the increased volume,” the spokesperson said.
The decision is in accordance with an order Gov. Greg Abbott issued in September. The order requires hospital groups to postpone such procedures in areas with high hospitalizations if those procedures would “deplete any hospital capacity needed to cope with the COVID-19 disaster.”
The group says patients should contact their doctors with any questions.
Texas Health has 27 hospitals, more than 80 outpatient facilities, and more than 250 other community clinics and doctors’ offices. Within those, the group operates around 3,400 available beds.
A spokesperson with Texas Health said this decision does not apply to all their 27 hospital locations and numerous outpatient centers because they do not necessarily keep patients overnight and are not treating COVID-19 patients.
Texas Health said these facilities perform procedures that do not impact their capacity to care for COVID-19 patients.
The news comes as the state reported its highest 7-day case average and the largest number of hospitalizations since the pandemic began on Monday.
And experts believe a post-Christmas surge has not yet begun to be realized, which, when it arrives, will further tax the “already fatigued and courageous clinical staff in our hospitals.”
“COVID-19 has filled our hospitals with very sick and dying people, and we have taken this step to help deal with this high volume of critically ill patients,” Huffman said.
Several Texas Health hospitals that have been unusually busy with COVID-19 patients have already been postponing some procedures, the spokesperson said.
“The models reflect a significant surge on top of our current surge in the next few weeks,” said Stephen Love, the president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council.
Typically, people are hospitalized a week or two after testing positive for the virus.
State officials reported a combined 17,939 new cases Monday, along with 52 additional deaths.
There are also an estimated 12,961 people currently hospitalized across the state, the highest number since the pandemic began.
Those numbers have continued to climb dramatically since the end of December, going from about 10,868 in hospitals on Christmas to those nearly 13,000 patients by Jan. 4.
Across the North Texas region, there were 3,982 COVID-19 patients hospitalized Monday, according to Love.
That was an “overwhelming 259-patient increase” from just the day before, he said.
And as the number of hospitalizations has risen each day, the number of available ICU beds has dropped.
“Our hospital bed capacity is being challenged, our workforce stretched to the ultimate and the expected surge forthcoming as a result of the recent holidays will only make the situation even direr,” Love explained.
From Sunday to Monday, an additional 81 ICU beds filled up across Texas, state data shows, leaving around 625 such beds available for the roughly 29 million people who live in Texas.
For those in the North Texas region, there are currently around 50 ICU beds available, according to Love.
While Dallas County has the most at 21 available ICU beds, Collin County has just two beds and Ellis County is at three. Tarrant and Denton’s counties have nine and 10 open ICU beds, respectively.
COVID-19 patients represent a little more than half of all patients currently in North Texas ICUs, Love explained. And overall, COVID-19 patients make up a little more than a quarter of total hospital capacity in the region.
“We are entering an extremely serious and critical timeframe regarding COVID-19 treatment in North Texas,” he said.
Jamie Stiehm is a US political columnist who was in the Capitol building in Washington DC when it was stormed by pro-Trump rioters. Here’s what she saw from the press gallery in the House of Representatives.
I had told my sister earlier: “Something bad is going to happen today. I don’t know what, but something bad will happen.”
Outside the Capitol, I encountered a group of very boisterous supporters of President Donald Trump, all waving flags and pledging their allegiance to him. There was a sense that trouble was brewing.
I went inside to the House of Representatives and up into the press gallery, where we were assigned seats, looking down at the rather somber gathering. Speaker Nancy Pelosi was holding the gavel, and keeping people to their five-minute statements.
As we went into the second hour, all of a sudden we heard breaking glass. The air began getting fogged. An announcement from the Capitol Police said, “An individual has breached the building”. So everyone looked around and then it was business as usual. But after that, the announcements kept coming. And they were getting more and more urgent.
They announced that the intruders had breached the rotunda, which is under the famed marble dome. The sacred house of democracy was under fire.
Many of us are hardened journalists – I’ve seen my share of violence covering homicides in Baltimore – but this was very unpredictable. The police didn’t seem to know what was happening. They weren’t coordinated. They locked the chamber doors but at the same time, they told us we would have to evacuate. So there was a sense of panic.
I was afraid. I’ll tell you that. And I’ve spoken to other journalists who said they were a little ashamed of themselves for feeling afraid.
There was a sense of “nobody’s in charge here, the Capitol Police have lost control of the building, anything can happen”.
If you think back to the September 11 attacks in 2001, there was one plane that went down and didn’t hit its target. That target was the Capitol. There were echoes of that. I made a call to my family, just to let them know that I was here and it was a dangerous situation.
There was a shot. We could see there was a standoff in our chamber. Five men were holding guns at the door. It was a frightening sight. Men were looking through a broken glass window and looked like they could shoot at any second.
Thankfully there was no gunfire inside the chamber. But for a while there, it felt like it would be a real possibility. Because things were going downhill very fast.
We had to crawl under railings to get out of the way. I was not dressed to do that. A lot of women were dressed up, wearing heels, because they had come for a formal ritual.
I sheltered in the House cafeteria alongside others. I’m still shaking now.
I have seen a lot as a journalist, but this was something more. This was the collective public sphere being undermined, assaulted, degraded. And I think this was why the Speaker wanted to return and hold the gavel again and go on.
Afterward, I had to decide whether I was going to go back to the chamber too. I decided l probably would because the message that is sending is: “You can incite a mob, but we’re going to go on”. I think that is a very important political message.
Images and video from the Capitol show a trail of vandalism and destruction after the building was stormed by an angry mob of President Trump supporters on Wednesday.
One photo shows a shattered mirror inside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office — the apparent result of vandals who broke into her suite of offices. Beneath the broken mirror is a picture of the Bush family.
Outside Pelosi’s offices, a few demonstrators can be seen proudly wielding a piece of the lawmaker’s damaged nameplate, according to a photo posted to social media.
A rioter was seen carrying a podium out of the Capitol Rotunda before police cleared the building.
Countless windows throughout the Capitol building were smashed by a furious mob that forced lawmakers voting to certify the presidential election into lockdown, according to photos from the scene.
One video shows members of the mob smashing a window and pulling out furnishings in the historic legislative chamber, including a lamp and a chair.
Another image shows a window to the Capitol shattered, with a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag left hanging from the broken glass.
Reports from inside the building also described debris and papers strewn about.
Some rioters made it into both chambers of Congress after lawmakers fled to safety.
A man dressed in Army fatigues carrying what appears to be giant zip ties was photographed inside the Senate chamber.
Meanwhile, outside the building, rioters were captured smashing media equipment as people screaming.
“At this hour, our democracy is under unprecedented assault, unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times,” Joe Biden said today as Donald Trump’s supporters swarmed the Capitol to halt the certification of the electoral college vote.
“Let me be very clear, the scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect the true America,” the President-elect passionately added in a live address from Wilmington, Delaware covered by all the mainstream cabler newsers and broadcasters.
“This is not dissent, its disorder, it’s chaos and it borders on sedition and it must end now,” the self-described “shocked and saddened,” Biden said of what he called a “dark moment” in the nation’ history.
Slamming those who are only interested in “the pursuit of power or personal interest,” Biden called on the former Celebrity Apprentice host to “go on national television now, to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege.”
“President Trump, step up.”
As Biden was speaking, Trump actually put a staged video up on social media complaining again about the “fraudulent election” and telling his “very special” followers to “go home and go home in peace.” The incumbent said nothing about the bloody outcome in Congress.
Pulling political reality further, it’s officially called the second Georgia runoff race for Jon Ossoff. Stripping the GOP of their majority, that leaves the Senate now tied at 50-50, with incoming Vice President Kamala Harris the deciding vote.
Leaving the stage in Delaware today, Biden stepped back to answer a question about himself and what could happen next.
“I am not concerned about my safety, security, or the inauguration,” the soon-to-be 46th POTUS said. “I’m not concerned. The American people are going to stand up, stand up now. Enough is enough is enough.”
Biden almost immediately afterward tweeted a summation of his speech and feelings – shared by many.
Violent supporters of President Donald Trump have breached the Capitol in Washington, as lawmakers met to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s poll win.
In dramatic scenes, demonstrators swarmed the building as Congress members were escorted out by police.
Mr. Biden said the action should “end now”, and Mr. Trump released a video message asking supporters to go home.
The joint session of Congress certifying Mr. Biden’s win has been suspended and forced into recess.
There are reports of guns drawn in the building and at least one person shot. A woman was reported to be in critical condition after receiving a neck injury.
There has been an armed confrontation at the doors of the House of Representatives. Tear gas has also been used.
Members of Congress have been told to evacuate the building or remain where they are. One congresswoman tweeted that she was staying in her office.
Mr. Trump recorded a video message on Twitter calling on supporters to leave the Capitol but continuing to make unsubstantiated claims that Democrats had stolen the election.
“I know your pain, I know you’re hurt,” he said. “You have to go home now, we have to have peace… we don’t want anybody hurt.”
Mr. Biden said the demonstration “borders on sedition and it must end now”.
“At this hour our democracy is under unprecedented assault,” he said.
Mr. Trump’s spokeswoman, Kayleigh McEnany, tweeted that the National Guard was being deployed.
Rioters were seen marching through the building chanting “We want Trump” and one was photographed in the Senate president’s chair.
A citywide curfew has been declared from 18:00 to 06:00 (23:00 to 11:00 GMT) by Washington DC’s mayor.
There are also reports of protests at state legislatures in Kansas and Georgia.
Trump’s disruptive legacy
It’s a wildly dramatic day on Capitol Hill, Shakespearean in scope.
In the dying days of the Trump administration, the fuming president, unable to accept that he’s lost an election, has ordered his faithful followers to march on Congress, as lawmakers certify Joe Biden’s win and loyalist Republicans try to disrupt that process.
Sirens are wailing outside Capitol Hill, and police are swarming everywhere – camouflaged tactical officers are the latest to arrive.
From within the chamber and outside, the party of Trump in its different factions is chanting “stop the steal”. Mr. Trump’s angry and disappointed supporters have quite literally stormed the citadel, breaching the US Capitol building.
It’s a frightening atmosphere, with police massing on the scene, sirens wailing, people chanting “USA” and screaming at law enforcement. All this as Mr. Trump’s loyal vice-president and his Senate majority leader desert him at the 11th hour, and refuse to abandon their adherence to the constitution and subvert the election result.
Not since Herbert Hoover in 1932 has a president lost the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. This alarming scene in Washington as the world watches is Mr. Trump’s disruptive legacy.
It’s a tense and volatile atmosphere, and not what a peaceful transfer of power looks like.
What were the protesters targeting?
A joint session of Congress was being held to certify Mr. Biden’s election victory on 3 November.
The proceedings are usually brief and ceremonial but Republican lawmakers have been objecting to some results.
For days Mr. Trump had also been putting pressure on Mr. Pence, who is presiding over the session, to block certification of the result.
But in a letter to Congress on Wednesday, Mr. Pence said that he had no “unilateral authority to decide which electoral votes should be counted”.
The protesters arrived at the Capitol from a “Save America Rally”, where Mr. Trump had urged them to support those legislators opposing Mr. Biden’s confirmation.
Mr. Trump has refused to concede the 3 November election, repeatedly alleging fraud without providing any evidence.
On Wednesday, he said again: “We will never give up. We will never concede.”
He has also tried to throw doubt on the integrity of Tuesday’s Senate run-off votes in the southern, traditionally Republican, state of Georgia. Projections by US TV networks suggest the Democrats have won one of the seats and are neck-and-neck for the second seat.
If the Democrats win both they will gain effective control of the Senate – something that will help Mr. Biden push forward his agenda after he is inaugurated as president on 20 January.
The House and Senate began a lengthy debate over President-elect Joe Biden’s victory as Republicans lodged their first objection to accepting the election results. President Trump addressed supporters near the White House before protesters marched to Capitol Hill.
Chaos engulfed the Capitol on Wednesday as a faction of Republicans sought to overturn President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory in Congress and a group of protesters loyal to President Trump tried to storm the building, demanding to be heard.
On an extraordinary day in Washington that laid bare deep divisions both between the two parties and within Republican ranks, the ceremonial counting of electoral votes that unfolds every four years in Congress was transformed into an explosive spectacle, with Mr. Trump stoking the unrest.
A group of Republicans led by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas objected early Wednesday afternoon to the counting of Arizona’s electoral votes, lodging the first of several extraordinary challenges to its outcome and forcing a two-hour debate in the House and Senate over Mr. Trump’s reckless election fraud claims.
“I rise for myself and 60 of my colleges to object to the count of the electoral ballots from Arizona,” said Representative Paul Gosar, Republican of Arizona. His objection was met with widespread applause by Republicans gathered on the floor of the House of Representatives for the joint session.
Bipartisan majorities in each chamber were prepared to turn back that challenge and others and formalize Mr. Biden’s victory. But the marathon session promised to be a volatile final act of the Trump presidency, with Mr. Trump — unwilling to cede the limelight or his fantasy of victory — transforming a moment of Democratic triumph into a day of defiance by summoning supporters to his backyard for an airing of grievances.
“We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn’t happen,” Mr. Trump told a gathering of die-hard fans at the Ellipse behind the White House. He urged them to go to the Capitol to register their discontent, not long before a group of protesters breached barricades outside the edifice, clashing with police.
By using the proceeding as a forum for trying to subvert a democratic election, Mr. Trump and his allies are going where no party has since the Reconstruction era of the 19th century when Congress bargained over the presidency. The effort had already badly divided the Republican Party, forcing lawmakers to go on the record either siding with the president or upholding the results of a democratic election.
The objection to Arizona was the first of at least three expected during Wednesday’s session. Republicans were also eyeing Georgia and Pennsylvania, battleground states Mr. Biden won, for likely objections.
Lawmakers anticipated possible objections for up to three additional states — Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin — although it was not clear whether they would draw the requisite backing from a member of both the House and the Senate to be considered.
Mr. Cruz, a possible 2024 presidential contender, and his allies in the Senate has said he is merely trying to draw attention to the need for an electoral commission to audit the results. But by objecting, he joined ranks with a group of dozens of House Republicans backing Mr. Trump’s attempt to toss out the will of the voters to deliver him a second term in office.
Even before it began, the session was already driving sharp wedges into the Republican Party that threatened to do lasting damage to its cohesion, as lawmakers decided to cast their lot with Mr. Trump or the Constitution. Top party leaders in the House and Senate appeared to be headed for a high-profile split. And while only a dozen or so senators were expected to vote to reject the outcome in key states, as many as 70 percent of House Republicans could join the effort, stoking the dangerous belief of tens of millions of voters that Mr. Biden was elected illegitimately.
Despite a remarkable pressure campaign by Mr. Trump to unilaterally throw out states that supported Mr. Biden, Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding as the president of the Senate, said just before the session began that he did not believe doing so was constitutional and would exercise his duties as his predecessors had. The outcome, after four years of loyal support for the president, risked his political standing in a party Mr. Trump still dominates.
“It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not,” he wrote in a letter.
Congress’s counting process began at 1 p.m. and the session had already accepted results from Alabama and Alaska before the objection to Arizona was lodged. A member of the House and Senate must agree for any objection to having force.
The House and Senate are convening Wednesday for a joint session of Congress to tally electoral votes from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the final step in confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election over challenges from Republicans that will lengthen the proceedings.
Required under the Constitution, the meeting is typically a ceremonial affair, marking the final step in the electoral process before the presidential inauguration on January 20. But this year’s session is far from routine, as a coalition of Republicans from both chambers will try to reject some states’ election results over alleged election irregularities, while outside the halls of Congress, President Trump’s supporters have descended on the nation’s capital to make their final push to keep him in office.
Soon after the joint session began, GOP lawmakers objected to results from Arizona, a move that prompts two hours of debate in each chamber. A majority of each chamber would be required to reject Arizona’s electors, a virtual impossibility has given Democrats’ control of the House. More lawmakers have promised to contest the results in Pennsylvania and other battleground states.
In an extraordinary rebuke just before the joint session convened, Vice President Mike Pence defied the president and told lawmakers he does not have the authority to reject states’ electoral votes. Mr. Trump has repeatedly pressured Pence to reject votes from several states, a power the vice president does not have under the Constitution.
The plan from some GOP lawmakers to challenge the electoral votes split Senate Republicans, with more than a dozen committing to counting the results.
The joint sessions to tally the results of the 2012 and 2016 elections each lasted less than an hour. But Wednesday’s event is expected to stretch into the evening because of the Republican attempts to toss the electoral votes from some battleground states.
