Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered clinicians to delay all nonessential surgeries in the state March 23 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, local NBC affiliate KXAN reports.
What you should know:
1. Mr. Abbott made the decision to free up hospital bed space and limit personal protective equipment use.
2. If clinicians violate the order, they can be fined up to $1,000 or jailed for 180 days.
3. Clinicians KXAN interviewed agreed that it was the correct decision. Randall Schultz, MD, of Austin-based Texas Orthopedics, had to cancel 20 surgeries over the next two weeks, but said, "If we don't follow these guidelines, we may be looking at a catastrophe we may never recover from."
4. The state, like others, urged patients to turn to telemedicine to continue seeing their clinicians.