The latest Greg Abbott news from The Texas Tribune.
Watch the Texas governor discuss hospitals' response to patients diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Abbott is set to speak live at 2:30 p.m. Central time. Full Story
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To help keep the new coronavirus at bay, Gov. Greg Abbott wants us to stay away from each other, but he made an exception for church services. That was a critical mistake during the 1918 flu pandemic. It still is. Full Story
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With elective procedures canceled, hospitals are reassigning staff. But even the best-laid plans may go awry if clinicians fall ill in large numbers. Full Story
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Plaintiffs in an ongoing Harris County lawsuit over felony bail practices are asking a federal judge to temporarily block Abbott's order. Full Story
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As tens of thousands of Texans try to file unemployment insurance claims, they're finding the Texas Workforce Commission's phone lines jammed and website servers overloaded as the agency is swamped by the crush of sudden need. Full Story
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The judges are under a federal court order to release low-level defendants without collecting bail payment after the county's cash bail practices were found unconstitutional. The governor's Sunday order does not allow those accused of low-level crimes to leave jail without access to cash if they have a past violent conviction. Full Story
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He also said that schools would remain closed until at least May 4 as the state increases its efforts to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. Full Story
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State health and education officials will join Abbott at 2 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday for an update on efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott has been slow to impose statewide stay-at-home orders, a reluctance mirrored in many of the state's cities and counties. But more are issuing advisories as the new coronavirus pandemic spreads in Texas. Full Story
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Abbott's order bans release without paying bail for inmates who are accused of or have been convicted in the past of violent offenses. Defendants with cash could still walk free. Full Story
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In Texas, Abbott said the state's first ad hoc health care facility to respond to the pandemic will be the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, an original hotspot for the outbreak at the state level. Full Story
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Though Texas has dramatically increased its testing capacity, many who have gotten one are waiting days on end, and sometimes a week or more, for the results, according to interviews with patients and health care professionals. Full Story
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Our staff is closely tracking developments on the new coronavirus in Texas. Check here for live updates. Full Story
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Our staff is closely tracking developments on the new coronavirus in Texas. Check here for live updates. Full Story
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Abbott’s approach has helped keep the peace across levels of government handling the response in Texas but has also raised questions about whether he’s being aggressive enough in responding to a virus that threatens thousands of lives. Full Story
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The order aligns Texas with federal guidance announced Wednesday that aims to contain the spread of the virus outside New York, which has become the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States. Full Story
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Abbott is set to provide an update on the state's response to the new coronavirus at 2 p.m. in Austin. He'll be joined by the commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services and the head of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. Full Story
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Attorney General Ken Paxton said this week that abortions should not be performed unless the mother's life is in danger, saying health care capacity needs to be preserved for COVID-19 patients. Full Story
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The efforts to quickly add capacity come after Gov. Greg Abbott waived hospitals’ occupancy restrictions Sunday and ordered health care providers to postpone surgeries that are not “immediately, medically necessary.” Full Story
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On Tuesday evening, Texas launched a new system for reporting cases of COVID-19. Officials said the new system will bring the state's count closer to those of counties and other sources that were reporting hundreds more cases. Full Story
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