More Texas virus action urged
White House says state has stabilized, but red zones remain
WASHINGTON — The White House Coronavirus Task Force continues to urge Texas and other states to step up mitigation efforts, even as a Dec. 13 update sent to Texas officials says a stabilization in COVID cases in the state demonstrates the effectiveness of countermeasures already in place.
“The fall surge is merging with the post-Thanksgiving surge to create a winter surge with the most rapid increase in cases; the widest spread ... and the longest duration, now entering the 9th week, we have experienced,” the report says.
It’s the latest in a series of reports from the task force calling for states to step up efforts to curb community spread of the
disease — including closing restaurants and bars — even as states including Texas begin to administer vaccinations.
“Mitigation efforts must increase,” it says, including “no indoor gatherings outside of the immediate households” as the winter holidays approach.
“Many Americans continue to gather indoors, creating private spreading events outside of public spaces,” it says. “Warn about any gathering during the December holidays.”
Texas remains in the red zone with Harris, Dallas and Tarrant counties leading the state in newly reported cases, according to the Dec. 13 report, the most recent to be published by the Center for Public Integrity. The state has refused to release the re
ports to the public.
The statewide total grew to 1,567,794 cases on Friday, an increase of 17,820 cases from the day before. The statewide 7-day average for new cases was 15,734. There have been 25,900 COVID-19 deaths reported in Texas.
Still, the Dec. 13 White House report notes that “Texas has seen stability in new cases, test positivity, and new hospitalizations, demonstrating the impact of mitigation.”
A spokeswoman for Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement last week that the governor had spoken with Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and she “commended” steps the governor had taken so far. Those include enacting mandatory occupancy reductions — including closing bars — in regions where coronavirus patients take up 15 percent or more of hospital capacity for seven straight days.
The governor has also ordered most Texans to wear masks in public since July 2, but he has so far not taken additional steps the White House has pushed, such as significantly reducing maximum occupancy statewide.
Abbott, meanwhile, has touted newly approved treatments and the arrival of the first doses of vaccines, which the state has begun administering to frontline workers.
Across Texas, 207,675 doses of the Pfizer vaccine had been distributed as of Friday, with 15,352 people getting the first shot across 155 counties, according to DSHS data. In Harris County, there had been nearly 50,000 doses distributed and 2,855 people had received their first dose.