A few key stats today as we are facing COVID-19 in Houston

Daily hospital growth rate is just .2% down from 5.2%, just a week ago

We are still in “Phase 2” of our ICU surge capacity plan.

Just 9% of our Phase 2 capacity is full

Phase 3 is not expected in the next two weeks

This means the hospitals can surge another 842 beds -- at minimum-- if needed. It is worth noting that hospitals regularly operate at 95% ICU capacity this time of year.

Texas still has one of the lowest death rates in the entire country. Our case fatality rate is just 1.23%

New York has 10x the COVID-19 deaths of Texas. 164 deaths per 100,000 vs 11 deaths per 100,000

CA’s spike in cases is as bad as Texas, even though their lockdown was longer

We CANNOT lock down again as we look for solutions to combat this public health crisis.

We should continue to strengthen our health care system so that it can continue to handle the uptick in cases.

And we can take personal precautions like wearing masks and social distancing.

All of this will help prevent us from making the critical mistake of locking down again. The economic, educational, and other public health impacts of lockdowns are unacceptable.

Texans are stepping up to confront this challenge together. We can do this.