Updated at 6:15 p.m.: Revised to reflect Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins’ comments at a news conference.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s chief of staff warned Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins in a letter Sunday that if the county doesn’t intend to use pop-up hospital space to treat coronavirus patients, officials will move the facility elsewhere.

Luis Saenz wrote in his letter that he had been informed the county judge indicated to federal officials “that you would not be utilizing the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center for hospital and healthcare use.”

Jenkins called the message from the governor’s office “a crazy letter" at a news conference Sunday afternoon, saying it was “essentially untrue.” He added that county staff members, along with other government and military leaders, were working around the clock to make sure the hospital was ready.

“We need that asset,” he said. “We need that asset when we need it.”

The letter came after a voicemail Saturday night from a Defense Department official to Nim Kidd, the chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, saying the department was confused after a call with Jenkins.

Maj. Gen. Mike Stone said in the voicemail that Jenkins’ team “has no intentions of moving patients into the convention center."

”I was hopeful that you were able to make positive contact with some officials in Dallas, whether it’s the mayor or somebody else," he told Kidd.

Jenkins said he thinks Stone was referring to a conference call among the county, city, local hospitals and the military about temporarily moving doctors stationed at the convention center to other states that are in more need than Dallas.

Dallas County has confirmed 1,112 cases of COVID-19. It is second only to Harris County, which includes Houston. Dallas-area hospitals have been able to manage the number of patients so far, but health experts expect the people who need critical medical attention to rise sharply by the end of the month.

Hospitals in other states, including Louisiana, are being overrun with COVID-19 patients.

Jenkins said that hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are at about 50% capacity and that there was no need yet to divert sick residents from “state-of-the-art” hospitals to the convention center. But the county probably will need the facility in another week, he said.

“We’re not going to just put people in there for the purpose of showing the media that it is being used," he said at Sunday’s news conference. "It is to be used as a COVID step-down unit when there’s hospital capacity issues — probably in a week or two — so that we free up bed space for people who need ventilators and those sort of things.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with the Texas National Guard, has set up 240 beds at the downtown convention center, but the capacity could expand to 1,400.

Jenkins said last week that after conferring with local hospital officials, he thought space at the convention center should be reserved for patients who no longer needed critical care after they were treated at a traditional hospital.

At a special meeting Friday of the Dallas County Commissioners Court, Jenkins’ point person on coordinating hospitals in the region said the county was doing everything it could to stop the hospital from opening to prevent unnecessary costs to local governments.

Peter Urbanowicz, who is helping Jenkins coordinate the hospitals, said early estimates suggest it could cost up to $3 million a week to provide services such as security, fresh linens and protective wear for workers. Commissioners are expected to review a more detailed proposal Tuesday.

“We don’t want to turn that thing on until we see it necessary,” he said Friday. “If everything goes right — and we pray every night it does — we may not have to use that facility.”

Saenz, the governor’s chief of staff, said that if Jenkins doesn’t accept the facilities by 5 p.m. Monday, the federal government will relocate them elsewhere.

“Other jurisdictions need quick access to the facilities currently set up in Dallas,” Saenz wrote in the letter. “If I don’t hear from you by tomorrow, the process may quickly begin to move this additional hospital capacity away from Dallas.”

Jenkins said he didn’t think it would take “until 5 p.m. tomorrow to stick a pin in this rumor.”

Mayor Eric Johnson said in a statement Sunday afternoon that he shared Abbott’s concerns and was “stunned and deeply disappointed to hear about Dallas County’s position on the pop-up hospital.”

“This hospital is an important asset that we have worked proactively, collaboratively and tirelessly with our federal and state partners to obtain for our region,” he said. “I am alarmed that these medical resources are now at risk as we begin preparing for an anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases.”

Johnson said he was committed to working to get the facility open as quickly as possible.

“We cannot afford inaction now,” he said in the statement.

Jenkins suggested to “read between the lines” when it came to the release of the letter, which he said was leaked to reporters first. He said during the news conference that he believed city officials were on the same call that began the “gossip tree.” However, a spokesman for the mayor said no city employee was on the call.

Adam Bazaldua, a South Dallas council member, called Sunday’s events “shocking.” He said the governor and mayor appeared to have commented on a misunderstanding without clarifying Jenkins’ stance beforehand.

“I think it’s very unfortunate that instead of doing more to communicate with our colleagues and fellow leaders and other bodies, that we seem to resort to social media to have backhanded or passive-aggressive messages,” Bazaldua said.

The letter from the governor’s office is the latest shift among various layers of government during the coronavirus pandemic.

For weeks, Abbott deferred to local leaders to manage the outbreak, especially when it came to “stay-at-home” orders that aim to drastically reduce the spread of the virus by limiting interaction between people. Abbott had said he was not ready to enact an order across Texas’ 254 counties, many of which have not had a COVID-19 patient.

Jenkins was not shy about demanding more of Abbott, privately and publicly supporting tougher restrictions statewide. Ultimately, Abbott implemented a statewide stay-at-home order, though he chose to avoid that term.

Jenkins said he and Abbott have not had a one-to-one conversation since the pandemic began.

“I’d love to have one,” Jenkins said, urging the governor to call him if he saw Sunday’s news conference. “I don’t have your number, but you’ve got mine.”

Austin Bureau Chief Robert T. Garrett contributed to this report.