HOUSTON — During a press conference Monday afternoon, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced he placed three businesses on his "Wall of Shame."
Those businesses are:
- Spire Night Club at 1720 Main Street
- Pour Behavior at 2211 Travis Street
- Prospect Park at 3100 Fountain View Drive
Turner describes his "Wall of Shame" as a list of businesses that are disregarding Gov. Greg's Abbott's new executive order to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Prospect Park had its alcohol permit suspended for 30 days by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission because the owner refused to follow orders.
The owners of Pour Behavior said they are shocked by the allegations because they say they've been inspected more than 20 times since May 1 with no issues. The owners hired an attorney and plan to take legal action to clear their name.
On Wednesday, the TABC said it inspected Spire nightclub twice this weekend and found no violations. The TABC also said Spire sells enough food to count as a restaurant, and therefore is allowed to remain open under the governor's executive order.
Turner said the coronavirus continues to be a big problem in Houston and his main goal is to bring the numbers down after a significant spike in cases within the last week.
The Houston Health Department reported 1,317 new cases Monday, which is a combination of Sunday and Monday's numbers. That brings the total number of coronavirus cases in the city of Houston to 20,011.
There were also five additional deaths reported, with four of those deaths being people who are Hispanic. All of them had underlying health conditions.
Turner said that although the city's mortality rate continues to remain low -- a total of 224 as of Monday -- the number of positive cases and hospitalizations continue to grow.
Turner said hospitals are starting to see a trend in the number of young people getting sick -- those in their 20s, 30s and 40s. Dr. David Persse, with the Houston Health Department, piggybacked off of Turner and said the number of young people in Houston's ICUs stands at about 15 percent.
Persse said he believes young people are not really concerned about getting sick but are the ones facilitating the spread to people who are older and most vulnerable.
Starting Tuesday, Delmar and Bulter Stadiums will test 650 people per site, instead of the usual 500. This is a result of both testing sites reaching capacity very early within the past week.
Last week, the alarm rang in the state of Texas as the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 reached a record high. This caused Abbott to pause re-opening plans and limit in-person services at bars and restaurants.
All Texas bars were ordered to shut down in-person services Friday and restaurants were required to limit capacity to 50 percent starting Monday.
Also last week, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo moved Harris County to COVID-19 Level 1, which means COVID-19 is "severe & "uncontrolled."
She also put Harris County, which includes the city of Houston, under a "Stay Home, Work Safe" advisory. This advisory urges Harris County residents to stay home and only leave the house for essential needs like groceries and medical supplies.
As the number of positive COVID-19 cases continues to rise, local leaders have placed mask orders on businesses, which requires customers and employees to wear masks or the business faces a fine.