U.S. energy companies slammed the brakes on returning staff to their Houston offices as COVID-19 cases soared and top hospitals warned they could soon run out of beds for the most severely ill patients.
A record number of new illnesses in Texas this week spurred local officials to impose restrictions as new cases topped 5,000 on two days in a row. Intensive care unit beds were 97% full at Houston’s Texas Medical Center, which said it may soon move to surge ICU capacity assignments, officials said.
Many energy firms qualify as essential, and therefore are free to staff normally, but the surge in illness and hospitalizations has large employers delaying or halting openings. Chevron also has delayed its reopening plans for further evaluation, said spokesman Sean Comey. About 5% of its Houston office staff and about 2% of its San Ramon, California, workforce are in their offices now, he said.
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