Judge Hidalgo, Mayor Turner urges residents to cancel holiday gatherings as hospitalizations, positivity rate rises

HOUSTON – Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner urged residents Wednesday to cancel holiday meetings as COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases continue to rise in the Houston area.

Hidalgo said the county has faced a number of challenges in the past year during the coronavirus pandemic. She said ICU numbers have not stopped creeping in and Texas Medical Center is routinely traversing its basic compactness.

“The current situation in which our Medical Center, the largest in the world, usually crosses its core capacity, means that procedures are delayed, that health workers are at risk of exhaustion, that we cannot sustain an increase in infections, beyond where we are right now and that we live at the extreme limit “, said Hidalgo.

The judge urged residents to stay home and put plans on hold as Christmas and the end of the year approach.

“Mayor Turner and I wanted to join forces today to convey the seriousness of how important it is for everyone to cancel meetings. This year, show your love for others, without visiting, wait until it is safe until we completely turn the corner and then enough people will be vaccinated, “she said.

Hidalgo said she and Turner both discussed the possibility of implementing a mastery, but said it would be the last resort.

“The mayor and I discussed the imposition of a court fire,” she said. “To be clear, we choose not to do this right now, because it is a tool of last resort to use when disaster seems inevitable. At this point, we can turn things around. That being said, we do not rule out a future extinction. “

Turner stressed the importance of Hidalgo’s message, saying that the city’s positivity rate rose to 12.3%.

“Let me say, I agree with Judge Hidalgo 100%,” Turner said. “We both talked about where we are right now in Houston and Harris County. We’ve both been looking at these numbers for the last six weeks. The positivity rate increases. “

As of Wednesday, the Houston Department of Health is reporting 634 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths.

Turner also called for people to be tested, but the test sites will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but will reopen on Saturday.

Turner also addressed a recent incident in which a man is accused of assaulting a local bartender when asked to wear a mask. The mayor is promoting wearing summer masks and said the incident is annoying and will not be tolerated in Houston.

“Let me say it’s unacceptable,” Turner said. “OK? This kind of behavior is unacceptable.”

He said he spoke with Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo about the incident. He said law enforcement officials are aggressively looking for the suspect and hope to charge him.

“We want to find this individual,” Turner said. “We want to find him and arrest him and accuse him. Honestly, I see it as an assassination attempt, but this kind of nonsense won’t be, it won’t be accepted. This iniquity will not take place. “

The mayor said those who do not want to comply with the mask order when going to a business unit should stay home.

Turner said the city will host an event on Thursday to distribute about 40,000 masks and provide 20,000 ready-to-eat meals. He said that those who would like to participate in the social remote event, must register on the site.

Dr. David Persse, chief medical officer for Houston, said it was important for residents to avoid gatherings during the holiday season, as the spread of the virus could triple in the Houston area.

“It could triple by January, so it’s extremely important for us to avoid any kind of gathering this holiday season,” Persse said. “I certainly wish we could all be with our families, but unfortunately, as we all know, this is simply not the time. And I hope you will agree with me, as others have said today. It’s just that it’s extremely important for both our health and the health of people that we like to make this a priority to limit these meetings. “