US Houston mayor says nothing ruled out to curb COVID-19

HOUSTON - US Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Thursday morning that nothing was ruled out to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country's fourth largest city.

"I don't rule out anything. Our behavior, the spread of this virus, and the impact on the healthcare delivery system will ultimately dictate our response," Turner told reporters.

Turner made the remarks in response to a Thanksgiving weekend curfew in Texas' Bexar County where the city of San Antonio is located. Local officials in the county issued a curfew, banning people from gathering outside of their households between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. starting Thursday through Monday.

When asked about the curfew, Turner said he'll do whatever it takes to keep the city's COVID-19 cases down.

"I'm watching the numbers very carefully. Yesterday, in terms of hospitalizations, we hit 900, and that was increasing," Turner said. "So, a lot of what we decide to do would depend on people's behavior, the communities, the extent of the community spread, and the status of our hospital health care delivery system."

Turner also asked local bars and restaurants to help limit the number of customers during the holiday.

The COVID-19 positivity rate, hospitalization rate and daily new cases in Houston, among other areas in Texas, have been rising in the past weeks. However, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has reiterated that there would not be another economic shutdown in the southern state.