Houston cancels Texas Republican Convention

In a series of tweets on Wednesday, the city's Mayor Sylvester Turner said: "The public health concern for our first responders, convention workers, and those who would have attended weighed heavily in our decision making. Houston is in the midst of a global health crisis and we are doing everything in our power to combat COVID-19.

"Today I instructed the Houston First Corporation to exercise its right contractually in cancelling the state's Republican Convention that was set to take place next week at GRB (George R. Brown Convention Center).

"We need to do everything we can to mitigate this virus right now... Let's do everything we can to control the blazing fire we are battling."

The convention, scheduled for July 16-18, was expected to draw roughly 6,000 attendees to the indoor centre, reports Politico news.

Texas, along with Florida, Arizona and California, has emerged as one of the nation's largest coronavirus hot spots in recent weeks.

Texas reported a record 10,028 new infections on Tuesday, with a record 9,268 people in state hospitals.

Harris County, where Houston is located, has seen more than 40,000 cases since the pandemic began.