Late breaking COVID update just now in the Austin American-Statesman. Not covered, however, are the South Texas counties getting hit by COVID. According to the Corpus Christi Caller Times and The Monitor out of McAllen, the virus is impacting the following cities: Mercedes, Mission, La Joya, McAllen, Donna, Alamo, and San Juan—that is, in Hidalgo and Cameron County. As we know, this virus grows exponentially.
In my West Texas hometown of San Angelo, as of two days ago, 20 have it while many others are getting tested. My family is doing their best to follow stay-at-home orders right now. We are a very large state so each and every locale is tasked with containing it right now.
The biggest concern, of course, are the three individuals who contracted it from "community spread," meaning that it's "out there" from unknown sources. Sadly, on April 3rd, a newborn baby contracted COVID from the 7th person, a preteen female, that got it on March 31st. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all.
-Angela Valenzuela
#Masks4All #Covid-19 #StayAtHome
by Nicole Cobler | Austin American-Statesman
Monday, April 6, 2020
More than 1,153 people are being treated for COVID-19 in Texas hospitals, an increase of more than 300 people from Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a press conference Monday.
Speaking from a Texas Department of Public Safety Austin warehouse, Abbott gave his latest update on the state’s COVID-19 case count and its increase in personal protective equipment for health care workers.
Despite the rising hospitalizations and death toll, Abbott remained optimistic that the state is on track to lower the number of infections. Abbott said he spoke to governors across the country and health care leaders, including Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, ahead of his update.
″(Birx) said that it is clear from the data that mitigation efforts are working,” Abbott said. “She said that we are getting close to beginning to bend the curve, but also she made clear that if we let up now all of our efforts that have led to this point will have been for nothing.”
His latest news conference comes after the coronavirus’s death toll in Texas surpassed 100 over the weekend, rising to 140 fatalities Monday, according to the latest data from the Department of State Health Services. The daily count is a 13-person jump from Sunday and a 50-person increase from Friday.
More than 85,000 COVID-19 tests have been given in Texas, a 20% increase from the day prior, according to Abbott. Less than 10% of those have tested positive for the virus, he added.
Dr. John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services; Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management; and former Republican state Rep. John Zerwas, a Richmond physician and University of Texas System executive vice chancellor for health affairs, joined the governor.
Abbott last spoke at the DPS warehouse on March 24 to talk about the state’s supply of personal protective equipment, which includes face masks, gloves, gowns and other gear for health care workers. With boxes of medical equipment behind him, Abbott said then that his Supply Chain Strike Force obtained $83 million worth of supplies in just a few days.
On Monday, Abbott updated that count, saying that the state has distributed more than 1 million masks, 209,800 face shields, 2.7 million gloves and 170,000 gowns in the past week.
In the last 24 hours, Abbott said the state has received 2.5 million masks. He expects the state to receive an additional 3 million masks by April 11.
“The good news is those numbers are continuing to increase,” he said. “I feel more confident now than I ever have with access with (personal protective equipment) supplies.”
Abbott for the first time on Friday revealed the number of ventilators — a life-saving device for critically ill patients — available for use statewide: 8,741. By Monday, more than 6,000 ventilators were available, but Abbott said 7,350 anesthesia machines with ventilators “could be used if needed.”
In its daily count Monday afternoon, Department of State Health Services reported 702 fresh cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The state’s total of known cases is 6,812, an increase of 464 cases from the day prior.
Now, 157 out of 254 Texas counties are reporting cases of the coronavirus.
Harris County has 1,395 cases, the most of any county. Dallas County follows with 1,112, and Travis County comes in third with 418, according to agency data.
Much of the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas and lower parts of the Panhandle still have no known cases of the coronavirus, according to the department’s data.
As part Abbott’s executive order last month, which required certain travelers to self-quarantine for two weeks after arriving in Texas, the state set up checkpoints at the Texas-Louisiana border over the weekend.
Drivers entering the state from Louisiana must now complete a travel form to provide their address and information about where they’re traveling from. Violators face fines up to $1,000, up to 180 days in jail or both.
“This is a temporary situation where we will be working more aggressively to reduce the numb of people who are traveling from Louisiana into the state of Texas,” he said.
Abbott’s order also requires self-quarantines for air travelers from hot spot areas around the state, including New York and New Jersey.
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