Houston weighs another lockdown as coronavirus cases surge

“I’m growing increasingly concerned that we may be approaching the precipice — the precipice of a disaster,” said Lina Hidalgo, the Harris County judge who is the top official for the county’s five million residents…

“We’ve had the highest hospitalization number this Monday; it’s only grown from there,” Hidalgo said. “The numbers we’re seeing are very significant.”

Fourteen states have seen a spike in hospitalizations since Memorial Day, and the coronavirus death toll is now expected to reach almost 170,000 by October. That’s more than 50,000 additional deaths over the next few months.

“We’ve already uncorked the genie. We got our wish, which was to end the home quarantine orders,” said Dr. Jeremy Finkelstein, an emergency medical specialist at Houston Methodist. “And now we’re seeing people treat that as if COVID-19 is no longer an issue — and that’s far from the fact.”