Texas’ most populous county on Wednesday issued a public safety alert warning residents against celebrating the New Year with anyone other than those in the immediate household.
KHOU-11, a local CBS affiliate, rEPORTS Harris County Warning, which includes Houston, told residents to “protect yourself, your family and your health care workers.”
Dr. Ali Mokdad, a researcher who helped create the COVID-19 model used by the White House, told television that there had been an increase in cases and mobility, but the wearing of masks remained stagnant.
“The concern for New Year’s Eve is totally different,” Mokdad told the station. “It’s a different kind of celebration. People celebrate with friends, family and sometimes people they don’t know. It could be a very common event in addition to what you see in Texas.”
Over 60 percent of Texas intensive care beds are currently occupied by patients with COVId-19 KHOU reports, with cases that are not expected to peak until sometime in January.
According to Mokdad’s model, if trends continue on the path they are taking, Texas could experience up to 35,000 deaths by early February.
“Many hospitals are facing a shortage of ICU beds. If you put such pressure on hospitals, we will have to start sending patients to other hospitals away from where they live, ”Mokdad said.
KHOU notes that the launch of the vaccine has been much slower than expected. Trump officials on Wednesday defended the pace of vaccine distribution, claiming that up to 20 million doses will be available for all 64 US territories.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 2 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been given so far.
“Wearing the mask with 95% will be much better from now until April 1, especially compared to the rapid launch of vaccines, simply because we do not have enough vaccines,” Mokdad added, adding that the pandemic was will probably worsen starting in January.