Stay home order comes as Texans face COVID-19, job loss concerns

Cases of COVID-19 reached new highs this week in Texas. That led Governor Greg Abbott to issue an executive order requiring all Texans to stay at home, in an effort to slow the spread of the disease.

“I know this is a great sacrifice,” Abbott said in a message posted on social media Wednesday, hours before the order took effect. “But we must respond to this challenge with strength and resolve.”

The order allows exceptions for workers providing essential services. Texans can still leave their homes to do what the governor called “essential things” like going to the grocery store.

The order puts the entire state under restrictions similar to what many Texas cities already had in place.

“What I did, in my opinion, was just more precise,” Abbott said, describing the differences between his order and those in place in cities. “That is saying stay at home with the exception of essential services of running government and allowing you to access things like food that you need to live and survive.”

The order comes after pleas for statewide guidelines from groups like the Texas Hospital Association and the Texas Nurses Association. The worry is that if Texans do not take more stringent measures, COVID-19 could spread so fast that patients will overwhelm hospitals.

There is still concern about whether doctors and nurses who handle those patients have enough protective equipment like masks and gowns. The governor created the Supply Chain Strike Force to help acquire that equipment. Abbott appointed Dr. John Zerwas, a former state lawmaker, to join that team.

“We’re turning to everybody for some of these supplies, because they’re in such great demand,” Zerwas said. “Not every lead we get on supplies is a good one, I’m sorry to say,” he added.

One difficulty is the worldwide demand for medical supplies due to COVID-19. “I don’t think any of us have ever been in a situation where the disaster was everywhere,” Zerwas said. “I don’t think I have, nor anybody else, has really experienced something on this magnitude.”

The Strike Force has had some success bringing in supplies, including donations from schools, universities, and builders. “I think we as a state, and we as a country, are starting to catch up on this,” Zerwas said.