Houston employers should send workers home from the office if possible due to the increase in coronavirus cases in the region, the region’s leading business group said on Wednesday.
Bob Harvey, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, said in a statement that the Houston COVID-19 cases are reaching a “tipping point” and that employers must do their part to help curb what he called a “trajectory alarming”. “
“We encourage employers to seriously consider returning to a work-from-home model,” said Harvey. “To keep our Houston economy moving forward, we all must do our part.”
On Tuesday, Governor Greg Abbott asked Texans to voluntarily stay home if possible.
Texas appears to be heading in the wrong direction for a health and economic recovery from COVID-19. Abbott warned Wednesday that the state faces a “massive outbreak” in cases, as more than 4,000 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 in a single day.
Cases are on the rise especially in the Houston region, where local authorities reported 1,648 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the regional total to 33,565, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of local health data. As of Tuesday, 483 people in the Houston region have died from COVID-19.
