SAN ANTONIO – While the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise across Texas, Governor Greg Abbott wants to begin reopening the state, he said during a news conference on Friday.

Abbott announced that he plans to sign an executive order next week related to reopening the state in a “safe” way. He said the order will “focus on protecting lives while restoring livelihoods.”

“We can do both,” he said.

Abbott didn’t provide many specifics on the plan, telling reporters who asked for details that he would share more information about it next week.

Map: Track COVID-19 cases in Texas, county-by-county updates

Abbott said testing will be a component of the plan to get people back to work. He did not elaborate further.

“We will operate strategically,” Abbott said. “If we do it too fast without appropriate strategies, it will lead to another potential closure.”

Because social distancing guidelines have been maintained, Abbott said the situation in most metropolitan areas are beginning to improve as the curve flattens out. However, Abbott said it is still too early to make that determination definitively. Metropolitan areas are the biggest concerns in terms of outbreaks because of the dense populations.

Texans have been inundated with unemployment claims after statewide and local emergency orders closed non-essential businesses and schools and shuttered restaurant dining rooms. Those emergency orders are in place through April 30.

Abbott said the Texas Workforce Commission continues to add staffers to process claims faster. As of Friday, Abbott said more than 363,000 claims have already been paid, amounting to roughly $318 million.

Abbott said during the press conference that 11,450 Texans have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Friday. Of those, more than 1,500 Texans have been hospitalized and 221 people in the state have died due to the illness, Abbott said.

“Every life lost is one too many,” Abbott said.

As of Friday, 1,366 people in the state have recovered from the virus, marking the second-highest state number in the country, Abbott said.

In terms of hospital capacity, he said there are 20,488 beds available statewide as of Friday and about 2,500 ICU beds. Additionally, the state has 7,484 ventilators available.

Abbott was joined by John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services; Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management; and John Zerwas, the executive vice chancellor of health affairs at the University of Texas System.

COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.

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