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The busiest travel day in pandemic

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The busiest travel day in pandemic

Health experts in the U.S. urged Americans to spend the holidays at home to help curb the spread of COVID-19. However, millions of people still used air travel to reach another destination this season.

As people head home this weekend after wrapping up New Year and Christmas celebrations, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is releasing new data on how many people they recorded at airports across the country.

More than 14 million people passed through their checkpoints since Friday, Dec. 18. That number is less than how many people traveled during the same time period last year – more than 33 million.

On Saturday alone, the TSA screened 1,192,881 people. In Houston, long lines of masked travelers were seen crammed together waiting to check-in at Terminal B at Bush Intercontinental Airport on Saturday morning.

On New Year’s Day, TSA officers screened 805,990 people at security checkpoints, compared to 2,311,732 on Jan. 1, 2020.

The Houston Airport System told they project 1.68 million people will have flown through both Bush and Hobby in a 17-day period from Dec. 18 to Jan. 3. This holiday season’s number is slightly more than half of the number of people who flew last year – nearly 3 million travelers.

According to TSA, Sunday, Jan. 3 could be the busiest day for air travel since the pandemic started.

The high number of travelers and the presence of wintry conditions in some parts of the country are severely impacting flight times. Chicago O’Hare is seeing the biggest impact from the winter storm moving across the country. More than 1,000 flights in the country were canceled just on Saturday, and almost 5,000 flights were delayed in the U.S, according to Flight Aware.

Flight Aware shows live cancellations and delays by the airport, airline, and day of travel.

Fort Bend Co. Judge KP George to give a COVID-19 vaccine update today

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Fort Bend Co. Judge KP George to give a COVID-19 vaccine update today

Fort Bend County Judge KP George, alongside the Fort Bend Health and Human Services director, will provide the county with an update on Monday on the COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

The event is set to take place at the Fort Bend County Courthouse and Historical Marker at 10:30 a.m.

In Harris County, the first free public COVID-19 vaccine clinic just opened Saturday and was quickly overwhelmed with people looking to make an appointment.

Last Saturday alone, at least 1,000 people received a COVID-19 vaccination, according to the Houston Health Department. On Sunday, they were fully booked to administer the vaccine to 750 people.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said he will get his first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.

Mayor Turner to get first dose of Moderna vaccine

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Mayor Turner to get first dose of Moderna vaccine

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner will get his first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.

He visited with residents Sunday at the city’s first public COVID-19 vaccine site at the Bayou City Event Center. Appointments there were fully booked for the second day in a row, but people could still call to make an appointment later this week.

In a tweet posted by Turner on Sunday, a total of 986 people were vaccinated.

Those who were able to get through the Houston Health Department’s COVID-19 call center and successfully schedule an appointment received their first dose of the vaccine. Afterward, they were monitored for about 15 to 30 minutes to see if they experienced any side effects.

“We couldn’t wait to come,” said a Houston resident. “Matter of fact, we were on the phone [Saturday] for, I guess, close to four hours trying to get signed in.”

According to the state’s health department’s vaccine data dashboard, as of Sunday, Jan. 3, Harris County received 192,600 vaccinations to distribute and has administered at least 56,642 first doses.

Turner said the city is trying to increase the number of doses administered each day at its public vaccination site. The city’s also working to open additional mass sites in the future. However, he said there are challenges ahead.

“We need the dollars from the last stimulus package to get here as quickly as possible,” he explained. “As you know, they didn’t pass that until the end of the year … the very end. So, a lot of this hampering the ability to ramp up to hire significantly more people, because, in order to have all of these sites, you need to really have ubiquitous vaccinations, widespread vaccinations. You need more staffing, quite a bit, and the ability to set up mobile sites and the ability to go to people’s homes to actually vaccinate them.”

If you meet the requirements to get your first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as part of Phase 1B and want to make an appointment at the city’s public vaccination clinic, you can call the city’s health department’s COVID-19 call center at 832-393-4220 or visit the city of Houston’s vaccine website.

Virus patients in US state of Texas jump by 12,563

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Virus patients in US state of Texas jump by 12,563

The US state of Texas has hit a new record high for coronavirus hospitalizations as a surge in the disease caused by the coronavirus continued to strain state medical resources following holiday travel and gatherings.
State health officials reported 12,563 patients in Texas hospitals on Sunday, an increase of more than 240 from Saturday. It was the sixth time in seven days that the state reported record-breaking hospitalizations.
Intensive care units in several parts of the state were full or nearly full Sunday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The department reported 14,535 new confirmed patients Sunday, 1,510 more probable infections, and 50 fatalities.

Texas has recorded more than 1.8 million infections and more than 28,000 deaths.

Houston Health Department, partners announce free COVID-19 testing schedule for week of January 4

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Houston Health Department, partners announce free COVID-19 testing schedule for week of January 4

 
The Houston Health Department and its agency partners are announcing the schedule for sites offering free COVID-19 tests the week of January 4, 2020. Twenty-four FREE+FAST+SAFE testing sites across Houston are on the schedule for the week.

The Aldine area will benefit from two COVID-19 testing sites set up this week by the Houston Health Department and Harris County Public Health. The zip code 77037 within Aldine remains among the 15 Houston zip codes with the highest COVID-19 positivity rate.

The two drive-thru sites and their hours of operation are:

  • Cathedral of Saint Matthew, 9101 Airline Drive, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, nasal swab by a nurse. Registration is available at hcphtx.org or 832-927-7575.
  • Assumption Catholic Church, 901 Roselane, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, self-nasal swab. No appointment is required.

Houston Health Department
The Houston Health Department will offer drive-thru testing at two surge sites affiliated with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Southwest Multi-Service Center, 6400 High Star Drive, and Houston Community College – North Forest, 6010 Little York Rd., will offer nasal self-swab tests.

The sites will open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Appointments are available at doineedacovid19test.com and on-site registration is also available. Each site has a daily capacity of 1,250 tests.

The department also offers free drive-thru testing via self-nasal swab at the Aramco Services Company, 9009 W. Loop South. The mega testing site will open Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The site has a daily capacity of 1,000 tests.

People wanting to get tested at the Aramco site can call the department’s COVID-19 Call Center at 832-393-4220.

The department will offer testing at two community sites that don’t require appointments and open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or until each reaches its daily capacity of 250 tests:

  • Holy Ghost Catholic Church, 6921 Chetwood Drive, drive thru and walk up, self-nasal swab, and
  • Hiram Clark Multi-Service Center, 3810 W. Fuqua St., drive thru and walk up, self-nasal swab.

The department will provide self-nasal swab testing at the METRO Addicks Park & Ride, 14230 Katy Freeway, and the Multicultural Center, 951 Tristar Drive, city of Webster. Appointments are available by calling the department’s call center at 832-393-4220.

Texas Division of Emergency Management
Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and the Houston Astros offer self-oral swab tests daily at Minute Maid Park (Lot C), 2208 Preston. The testing site’s capacity is 1,200 tests per day.

The site features eight drive-thru testing lanes and four walk-up testing lanes. It will open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday through Wednesday and 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Spanish-speaking staff is available on-site.

Visit curative.com to set an appointment or obtain more information. On-site registration is also available.

TDEM and the department will also operate drive-thru sites offering tests Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at:

  • HCC – Northeast Campus, 555 Community College Drive, self-mouth swab tests, and
  • HCC – South Campus, 1990 Airport Blvd., nasal swab tests by healthcare professionals.

TDEM and the department offer drive thru, nasal-swab tests administered by healthcare professionals at LeRoy Crump Stadium, 12321 Alief Clodine Rd. The site is open Monday through Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Appointments for TDEM sites are available at covidtest.tdem.texas.gov. On-site registration is also available.

United Memorial Medical Center
United Memorial Medical Center (UMMC) will offer nasal-swab testing by healthcare professionals at drive-thru test sites at:

  • Plaza Americas Mall, 7500 Bellaire Blvd.,
  • Houston Community College – Southeast, 6815 Rustic, and
  • UMMC Tidwell, 510 W. Tidwell Rd.

The sites don’t require appointments and will offer testing Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. or until reaching daily capacity of 300 tests.

People needing information about UMMC test sites can call 1-866-333-COVID or visit ummcscreening.com.

Curative
Curative will provide walk up, self-mouth swab tests daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at three locations, each with a 900 daily test capacity:

  • Memorial Park Running Trails Center, 7575 N. Picnic Lane
  • Kroger, 1801 S. Voss Rd.
  • Kroger, 9303 S. Highway 6
  • Kroger, 6322 Telephone Rd.
  • Food Town, 2770 N. Sam Houston Parkway West
  • Food Town, 8800 W. Sam Houston Parkway South, and
  • Food Town, 9725 Fondren Rd.

Appointments are required and available at curative.com.

Federally Qualified Health Centers
The health department is providing test kits, lab access and equipment to local Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) so they can expand their COVID-19 testing capacity. The centers and phone numbers people can call to set up testing appointments are:

  • HOPE Clinic, 713-773-0803
  • Spring Branch Community Health Center, 713-462-6565
  • El Centro de Corazon, 713-660-1880
  • Avenue 360 Health and Wellness, 713-426-0027
  • Lone Star Circle of Care at the University of Houston, 346-348-1200, and
  • Scarsdale Family Health Center, 281-824-1480.

FQHC patients pay what they can afford, based on income and family size, and are not denied services due to inability to pay or lack of insurance.

The department and its agency partners may shift locations and schedules of test sites to better meet community needs. Houstonians can visit HoustonEmergency.org/covid19 for current Houston testing sites and information about stopping the spread of the virus.

US virus death toll surpasses 350,000; surge feared

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US virus death toll surpasses 350,000; surge feared

The COVID-19 death toll in the United States has surpassed 350,000 as experts anticipate another surge in coronavirus cases and deaths stemming from holiday gatherings over Christmas and New Year’s.

Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows the U.S. passed the threshold early Sunday morning. More than 20 million people in the country have been infected. The U.S. has begun using two coronavirus vaccines to protect health care workers and nursing home residents and staff but the rollout of the inoculation program has been criticized as being slow and chaotic.

Multiple states have reported a record number of cases over the past few days, including North Carolina and Arizona. Mortuary owners in hard-hit Southern California say they’re being inundated with bodies.

The U.S. by far has reported the most deaths from COVID-19 in the world, followed by Brazil, which has reported more than 195,000 deaths.

Texans vs. Titans live blog: 38-35 Titans, 4th Q

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Texans vs. Titans live blog: 38-35 Titans, 4th Q

First-quarter

15:00 — Titans call tails. It’s headed. Houston will receive.

15:00 — WR Brandin Cooks catches a 20-yard pass from QB Deshaun Watson, and Cooks now goes over 1,000 receiving yards.

13:48 — Watson scrambles for four yards on a third-and-6 from the Houston 49-yard line.

9:58 — On a third-and-18 from the Titans’ 34-yard line, QB Ryan Tannehill checks down to TE Anthony Firkser for six yards.

7:43 — On a third-and-6 from the Houston 28-yard line, Watson throws an interception right into the hands of S Amani Hooker. Watson was looking for Cooks the entire time.

6:46 — K Sam Sloman hits a 47-yard field goal. Titans 3-0

1:45 — K Ka’imi Fairbairn nails a 24-yard field goal. 3-3

Second quarter

15:00 — Not so fast, General. RB Derrick Henry for a 52-yard touchdown. Extra point is good. Titans 10-3

12:44 — On a third-and-2 from the Houston 46-yard line, Watson throws an incomplete pass intended for Cooks.

12:44 — Houston direct snaps it to QB A.J. McCarron on punt formation, and he throws a 20-yard pass to WR Steven Mitchell at the Tennessee 34-yard line.

8:15 — Fairbairn hits a 43-yard field goal. Titans 10-6

4:35 — Tannehill throws a 4-yard touchdown to WR A.J. Brown. Extra point is good. Titans 17-6

0:10 — Fairbairn hits a 28-yard field goal. Titans 17-9

Halftime

Texans

Watson: 15/23, 162 yards, INT; 3 carries, 3 yards

David Johnson: 9 carries, 34 yards

Keke Coutee: 5 catches, 61 yards

Cooks: 5 catches, 58 yards

 

Titans

Tannehill: 6/9, 59 yards, TD; 2 carries, 9 yards

Henry: 10 carries, 113 yards, TD

Brown: 3 catches, 33 yards, TD

Third quarter

15:00 — Titans get the ball to start the second half.

9:57 — Henry rushes for a 6-yard touchdown. Extra point is good. Titans 24-9

8:18 — Watson throws a 38-yard touchdown pass to Cooks on a flea flicker. An extra point is missed. Titans 24-15

4:36 — Tannehill rushes for a 5-yard touchdown. Extra point is good. Titans 31-15

2:59 — Watson throws a 20-yard touchdown pass to Cooks. The two-point throw to WR Chad Hansen is good. However, during commercial break they overturned it after a review. Titans 31-21

2:59 — ILB Zach Cunningham reaches in from behind as Henry is going back and punches the ball out. DE Carlos Watkins recovers at the Tennessee 28.

1:20 — Johnson rushes for a 1-yard touchdown. Extra point is good. Titans 31-28

Fourth quarter

15:00 — On a first-and-10 from the Houston 49-yard line, Henry rushes for six yards.

13:17 — DE Charles Omenihu sacks Tannehill on a fourth-and-11 from the Houston 37-yard line. Turnover on downs.

10:14 — Watson throws a 7-yard touchdown to TE Pharaoh Brown. The extra point is good. Texans 35-31

1:53 — The Titans get called for an illegal formation on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line.

1:42 — Tannehill rushes for a 6-yard touchdown. Extra point is good. Titans 38-35

 

 

Wall, Rockets beat Kings 102-94; Harden sits with injury

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Wall, Rockets beat Kings 102-94; Harden sits with injury

John Wall scored 28 points and the Houston Rockets beat the Sacramento Kings 102-94 on Saturday despite playing without an injured James Harden.

Harden, who sat out with a sprained right ankle, was not listed on the injury report and coach Stephen Silas did not mention his injury in his pregame availability. The team announced that he wouldn’t play about 38 minutes before the game was scheduled to begin.

Wall, who sat out Houston’s first two games because of COVID-19 contact tracing, missed all of last season and played just 32 games two years ago because of injuries. He scored 22 points in his Rockets’ debut on Thursday after a trade from Washington to make him the first player to score 50 points in his first two games after an absence of at least two years since Michael Jordan did it in 2001, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“I just put in a lot of hard work and dedication to get to this point,” Wall said. “I couldn’t ask for a better start to be 2-0 in my first two games.”

Silas wasn’t sure what to expect from Wall after being out for so long. But he has definitely been impressed.

“Whatever expectations I had, he’s obviously exceeded them,” he said.

The Rockets scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 92-81 with about 8½ minutes left. Eric Gordon led the team in that stretch, making a 3-pointer and three free throws.

Sacramento ended a scoring drought of more than 3½ minutes soon after that on an alley-oop dunk by Richaun Holmes.

Both teams struggled to score after that as they combined to miss 10 shots in a row. Gordon finally made a shot for Houston with just less than five minutes to go, and Wall added a bucket a few seconds later to extend the lead to 96-83.

Silas raved about his team’s defense on Saturday and said without Harden’s scoring prowess it was even more important to concentrate on that part of the game.

“We really buckled down and played some defense,” Silas said. “In order for us to be good, we have to be good on defense. We can’t just outscore people.”

The Kings used an 8-2 run, capped by four points from Harrison Barnes, to get within 98-91 with less than a minute to go. But Christian Wood responded with a dunk to put the game out of reach.

Harden had started Houston’s first three games this season and is averaging a league-leading 37 points with 11 assists.

De’Aaron Fox had 23 points for the Kings, who lost to the Rockets for the second straight game after winning three of their first four games.

“The guys should feel bad about the loss just like I do, losing is painful,” coach Luke Walton said. “But they should also feel very good about how they are playing as a group.”

He said they got stagnant offensively in the second half and was particularly disappointed in their lack of assists.

“We only had 11 assists tonight as a team, which is awful,” he said. “That’s not who we are as a group.”

Wood had 20 points and 16 rebounds and Gordon added 21 points for Houston.

The Kings cut the lead to two points on a 3-pointer by Buddy Hield with about 7½ minutes left in the third quarter. Wall made four quick points after that to stretch the lead to 79-73.

The Rockets were up by seven late in the third before Fox scored the last five points of the quarter to cut the deficit to 83-81 entering the fourth.

 

 

Houston Health Vaccinates More than 1,000 People During the City’s First COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic 

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Houston Health Vaccinates More than 1,000 People During the City’s First COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic 

 

City of Houston

Mayor Turner holds a news conference on Saturday, January 2 to discuss the City’s first COVID-19 vaccination site

 

 Mayor Sylvester Turner applauded the Houston Health Department for quickly establishing the City’s first COVID-19 vaccination site on Saturday, January 2, and providing the Moderna vaccine to more than one-thousand people.”After a slow start and some technical issues, the Health Department vaccinated more people than initially planned. Clinic staff vaccinated 1,008 people in one day at the first Houston vaccination clinic. In the coming days and weeks, there will be more providers at various locations throughout the City,” said Mayor Turner.

The Houston Health Department plans to hold a second COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Sunday, January 3. A limited number of appointments remain open. Interested individuals who qualify to get the vaccine based on the state’s 1A and 1B criteria must make an appointment through the COVID-19 call center at 832-393-4220 between the hours of 7:30 a.m. 4 p.m.

While the Health Department has limited daily capacity to provide vaccines, Mayor Turner said the city will establish additional COVID-19 vaccine distribution sites in the near future.

“My goal is to get the vaccines to people as soon as we get them, ” said Mayor Turner. “Even though there is a lot of vaccine hesitancy, people still have a strong desire to get the vaccine, and that is what today demonstrates.”

The State of Texas’ Phase 1B distribution plan prioritizes people 65 and older and 16 and older who have at least one chronic medical condition, putting them at increased risk.

The Houston Health Department received the Moderna vaccine, and it is recommended for persons 18 years of age and older in the U.S. population under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization. Per CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Medical conditions placing people at high risk include cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart conditions, solid organ transplantation, obesity and severe obesity, pregnancy, sickle cell disease, and type 2 diabetes.

Frontline healthcare workers are also eligible for vaccination as part of the Phase 1A distribution plan.

“Seven out of 10 people who die of COVID-19 are 65 and older. If you look in the line today, we see some of these folks, and I am grateful for that,” said Houston Health Department Director Stephen Williams.

Information about COVID-19 vaccines, including safety and efficacy, is available at the HoustonEmergency.org/covid19

How people in phase 1B can get vaccinated for COVID-19 in Texas

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How people in phase 1B can get vaccinated for COVID-19 in Texas

The State of Texas is giving a green light to health care providers to begin phase 1B vaccinations for people 65 years and older or with certain medical conditions.

The announcement is bringing a flood of questions from people wanting to know where to go to get in line.

Notifications are going out

“I think most facilities are doing what we are doing which is notifying the people we want to get vaccinated, to go ahead and schedule and get the vaccine, rather than having long lines and a sign outside saying walk in and get your COVID vaccine,” said Dr. Melanie Mouzoon, with Kelsey-Seybold Clinic.

She says Kelsey-Seybold is already moving into phase 1B. Last week, Memorial Hermann told us it planned to start early this week. Afterward, we heard from a lot of you, asking what day will phase 1B begin at area hospitals.

When we checked back with Memorial Hermann Monday, they told us they were still working on a rollout date. Houston Methodist told us it would likely be next week.

Don’t have a doctor/clinic/hospital? You may need to call around

If you don’t have a primary care physician you may need to look for another option to get the vaccine.

“The large pharmacies are going to be getting allotments as well, CVS and Walgreens, so I expect they will be doing some outreach for people that don’t have providers,” said Dr. Mouzoon.

The state health department also has a list online of every place the vaccines have been shipped. You can see the full list here. When we asked, a spokesperson told us people in phase 1B can call those places directly and ask for a vaccine appointment.

Check the map to see where COVID vaccine has been delivered

The state of Texas has put out a map, showing locations that have received the COVID-19 vaccine. Launch the map here.

Can you travel after getting both doses?

Another viewer wanted to know, can you travel after you’ve received both doses of the vaccine?

“Whether traveling or staying in town, the infection prevention measures in terms of social distancing, mask-wearing, washing hands does not change,” said Dr. Hana El Sahly, with Baylor College of Medicine.

She says the reason to still be cautious about travel, the vaccine prevents the symptoms of COVID but researchers don’t know if it prevents you from spreading the virus.

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