“Literally, there’s been an explosion in the number of covid-19 patients,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said. ICU beds are filling fast in Texas hosptials, especially in Houston.

MANILA Around 20 people were arrested during a Pride Month protest in the Philippines for supposedly violating quarantine protocol, organizers said Friday, the latest in over 100,000 arrests in one of the longest and most stringent lockdowns in the world.
Bahaghari, a left-leaning LGBTQ organization, maintained that the rally was peaceful and its attendees maintained social distancing. Attendees called for mass testing and protested an anti-terrorism bill that is widely seen as a crackdown on dissent.
In a video posted by photographer JL Javier, police did not answer questions about the nature of the charges.
Its clear that weve been arrested even though police cant name our violations, Bahaghari spokesperson Rey Valmores-Salinas said as the police vehicle pulled out. They cant name any, because there werent any.
Manila police later told The Washington Post that the protesters would be charged with illegal assembly, non-cooperation during a health crisis, direct assault, and disobedience and resistance to a person in authority.
Sarah Elago, an activist and member of the House of Representatives, slammed the arrests as illegal. It was also condemned by other LGBTQ organizations, including the organizers of the annual Metro Manila Pride.
The Philippines is home to a vibrant LGBTQ community, with the Pride March in Manila last year reportedly the largest in Southeast Asia. However, laws against discrimination and recognizing same-sex unions have languished in Congress.
President Rodrigo Dutertes coronavirus lockdown has eased in Manila, but government critics fear the pandemic is being used as a pretext to cut down on democratic freedoms.
Galang Philippines, another organization championing LGBTQ rights, said it had recorded cases of same-sex couples being denied pandemic aid because they supposedly did not qualify under a traditional definition of a family. In April, three LGBTQ people were detained for curfew violation and made to kiss and dance by village officials on a Facebook live stream.