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PLAYlist: How to Make a King Cake at Home
System Improvements Prompt Bus Shuttle Service on METRORail Red Line
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Texas Medical Center hospitals deferring some elective procedures
Stressed by an unrelenting surge of COVID-19 patients, Texas Medical Center hospitals have begun or are about to start deferring certain elective procedures, the same managed reduction plan deployed in the summer.
Hospital leaders said their systems will continue some elective procedures but suspend those non-emergency cases whose demands on staff and space detract from resources better used to treat COVID-19 patients. The reduction is not the wholesale delay of elective procedures that all Texas hospitals invoked in the spring.
“This may well be among the most challenging few weeks we’ve experienced during this pandemic,” Dr. Marc Boom, chief executive officer of Houston Methodist, emailed employees Monday. “Together, we will get through this, but it will be difficult.”
In the email, Boom notified employees that Methodist has started considering what elective procedures or surgeries “might need to be safely delayed.” At Memorial Hermann, Dr. James McCarthy, chief physician executive, said that system is a few days away from invoking the same practice. And Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, CEO of Harris Health System, said it began delaying such procedures just before Christmas.
The delays come as TMC COVID-19 hospitalizations approach summer-like levels. In his email, Boom noted that Monday’s number was just short of 700, which he wrote makes it likely Methodist will surpass the hospital’s July peak numbers in a matter of days. Dr. James McCarthy, chief physician executive at Memorial Hemann, noted that its current number of COVID-19 patients has increased three-fold over the last month.
The Houston area is now averaging more than 3,300 new cases a day, noted William McKeon, CEO of the Texas Medical Center, compared to roughly 2,330 such cases at the pandemic’s height in July. He said it’s clear the holidays weren’t good for Houston.
“January and February are shaping up to be our darkest days, given these record numbers,” said McKeon. “Hospitals lag behind in feeling the effects of increases in cases so expect the numbers to keep going in the wrong direction before things get better.”
More vaccines on the way to Texas this week as the state’s COVID-19 situation worsens
Less than a week into the new year, the rate of COVID-19 infections and the number of people hospitalized in Texas for COVID-19 are at record levels, while the 7-day average for new cases and deaths are spiking — but only about a third of the vaccine doses allocated for Texans have been given out, according to state numbers.
As Texas health care providers predict that the state’s COVID-19 numbers will get even worse, questions continue to swirl about the state’s vaccine distribution for the 1.9 million Texans who were eligible for the first phase and the millions more who fall into the second tier of eligibility.
The seven-day average positivity rate for confirmed coronavirus tests has exceeded 20%, doubling levels that Gov. Greg Abbott called a “red flag” early in the pandemic. And the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 on Monday stood at 15,976, up 1,610 from a week ago and exceeding the previous highs reported last summer.
“Just this morning, I heard of two people’s parents passing related to COVID over New Year’s, and thought to myself, ‘Wow, and everyone went to go visit their parents [during the holidays],’” said Dr. Glenn Hardesty, an emergency physician at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano.
He said health providers expect that “the laxity around social distancing and precautions” combined with holiday travel is going to place even more pressure on an already stressed health care system.
“We’re preparing for that as best as we can, but the capacity is not infinite,” Hardesty said.
On Monday, state health officials announced that 325,000 additional vaccine doses would be getting into the hands of 949 providers in 158 Texas counties over the next week, part of the first round of vaccinations for frontline health workers as well as nursing home residents, Texans over 65 and those with certain medical conditions, among others. Some 121,875 doses are earmarked for long-term care facilities such as nursing homes and assisted-living centers.
But with the number of vaccine doses available still falling far short of what’s needed to cover those who are eligible — and with state officials pushing hospitals and other providers to administer vaccine doses that the providers say they don’t have, aren’t sure are coming or have already administered — confusion and frustration have surrounded the initial few weeks of the vaccination rollout.
Providers have 24 hours to report their vaccination statistics to the Department of State Health Services, and the agency updates its numbers each afternoon with data reported by midnight the day before, so the state’s numbers could lag up to two days behind the reality on the ground.
Officials from the White House down to local doctors have warned that it would take months to have vaccine doses available to everyone who wants one.
“The problem is unrealistic expectations based on the reality on the ground,” said Marshall Cothran, CEO of the Travis County Medical Society, which received 700 doses through a local partnership and had them all scheduled within 48 hours for physicians and staff who are not affiliated with hospitals or other care organizations.
With the new shipments this week, the state has been allotted a total of 1.5 million doses through the first four weeks of distribution, officials said Monday. Providers in 214 of the state’s 254 counties will have received shipments by the end of the week, health officials said.
Some 793,625 doses had been received by providers by midnight Sunday, according to the Texas Department of Health Services.
Of those, 414,211 — just over half of those delivered — had been administered, according to the agency’s dashboard.
Hardesty said the nearly 16,000 doses his facility received are being administered “fast and furiously,” and about 10,000 people have gotten their first dose, with second doses to start in the next week.
“We’re giving them as quickly as we can,” he said.
This week also marked the beginning of the second round of doses for those who were among the first to be vaccinated. Some 224,250 doses, earmarked for those who received their first dose in mid-December, are being sent to providers this week, state health officials said on Monday.
Chad Bush, a CT technologist at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, got his first dose in mid-December and his second dose on Monday and said the process seems to be going smoothly at the hospital.
“Everybody that I know about at my facility, they are getting their second shot,” Bush said. “Hopefully, this is a light at the end of the tunnel for us.”
Houston vaccine allotments mostly to private providers leaves minority communities searching for doses
Father Jhon Flores-Gallo drove from his Pearland parish to north Houston on Monday morning just for the COVID-19 vaccine.
“It’s very important for community health,” said Flores-Gallo of the Vicar for St. Luke The Evangelist Catholic Church.
He knows it’s important to set an example in the Hispanic community because communities of color have been disproportionally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Most of the Hispanic and Black communities are in the frontlines and have been hit very hard,” said Dr. Adolfo Oldonez, the medical director for the Houston-area’s Mi-Doctor clinics, which primarily serve Hispanic patients.
The half-dozen Houston-area Mi-Doctor clinics received about 1,700 doses in total, which is not nearly enough to meet the demand.
“We have specific indications of not to waste a single dose,” said Oldonez, adding he can easily vaccinate hundreds of more people every day if he had the doses.
So, where are the vaccines?
The Texas Department of Health and Human Services distributed the vast majority of vaccines to private hospitals, pharmacies, and doctor’s offices.
ABC13 analyzed the state data, and as of Monday morning, here are the medical facilities receiving the biggest distributions of vaccines.
- Memorial Hermann Hospital: 44,375
- Methodist Hospital Systems: 23,525
- City of Houston Health Department: 10,200
- MD Anderson Cancer Center: 9,725
- HCA Hospitals: 6,025
- Texas Children’s Hospital: 5,950
- Kelsey Seybold: 4,500
- Ben Taub Hospital: 4,025
- Houston-area H-E-B pharmacies: 3,700
- Baylor Medical Center: 3,000
Other urgent care facilities and doctors’ offices are getting smaller shares. For example, each Kroger & H-E-B pharmacy only gets 100 doses per location.
The shortage of vaccines has left a scramble for the city of Houston’s single public vaccine location. Online bookings quickly filled up on Monday. It has also made it more difficult for communities of color to have equitable access to vaccines. Mayor Sylvester Turner said on Monday that there were not many Black or Hispanic Houstonians waiting in line at the city of Houston vaccine site.
“While many people are coming to get the vaccine, this is not the time for people of color to be staying away from the vaccine,” said Turner during an event where he and other community leaders got vaccinated.
The city of Houston says it will open up a “mega” vaccination center by this weekend.
In the meantime, make sure your loved ones are signed up with their doctors’ and pharmacy offices because there is no central clearinghouse or phone number for everyone to call. You must contact individual doctors and hospitals for available vaccine slots.
Congresswoman Jackson Lee submits Legislation for a Commission to Consider Reparations Proposals for Africans Americans to the House of Representatives
Jackson Lee – “In short, the Commission aims to study the impact of slavery and continuing discrimination against African-Americans, resulting directly and indirectly from slavery to segregation to the desegregation process and the present day. The commission would also make recommendations concerning any form of apology and compensation to begin the long-delayed process of atonement for slavery.”
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary, Budget, and Homeland Security, Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations, issued this statement on the introduction of H.R. 40:
“The impact of slavery and its vestiges continues to affect African Americans and indeed all Americans in communities throughout our nation. This is why I am pleased to submit H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans Act; today to the House of Representatives and then on the first day of legislative business, Monday, January 4th, 2021 introduce H.R.40. This legislation is intended to examine the institution of slavery in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present, and further recommend appropriate remedies. Since the initial introduction of this legislation, its proponents have made substantial progress in elevating the discussion of reparations and reparatory justice at the national level and joining the mainstream international debate on the issues. Though some have tried to deflect the importance of these conversations by focusing on individual monetary compensation, the real issue is whether and how this nation can come to grips with the legacy of slavery that still infects current society. Through legislation, resolutions, news, and litigation, we are moving closer to making more strides in the movement toward reparations.
“I am proud to once again reintroduce this legislation on the first day of legislative business in the 117th Congress which is January 4, 2021. Especially following the tremendous support of this piece of historic legislation enjoyed in the last congress. In the 116th Congress, H.R. 40 had the support of 173 cosponsors. During the 117th Congress, we expect even more cosponsors to join. The groundswell for this bill was so considerable in the last Congress that the House of Representatives held a major hearing on this matter to consider this legislation and passage.
“Today there are more people at the table — more activists, more scholars, more CEOs, more state and local officials, and more Members of Congress. However, despite this progress and the election of the first American President of African descent, the legacy of slavery lingers heavily in this nation. While we have focused on the social effects of slavery and segregation, its continuing economic implications remain largely ignored by mainstream analysis. These economic issues are the root cause of many critical issues in the African American community today, such as education, healthcare, and criminal justice policy, including policing practices. The call for reparations represents a commitment to entering a constructive dialogue on the role of slavery and racism in shaping present-day conditions in our community and American society.
“I believe that H.R. 40 is a crucial piece of legislation because it goes beyond exploring the economic implications of slavery and segregation. It is a holistic bill in the sense that it seeks to establish a commission to also examine the moral and social implications of slavery. In short, the Commission aims to study the impact of slavery and to address continuing disparities in the African American community and discrimination against the African American community, resulting directly and indirectly from slavery to segregation. The commission after its study would offer proposals concerning the long-term impact of slavery and to bring about solutions to these ongoing disparities in the African American Community. As in years past, the theme behind moving H.R.40 based on Dr. King’s words “Why we can’t wait,” which connotes the fact that we must cure these ongoing disparities in the African American community and the passage of this legislation in the 117th Congress would move us swiftly towards that goal. Though the times and circumstances may change, the principle problem of slavery continues to weigh heavily on this country. A federal commission can help us reach into this dark past and bring us into a brighter future.”
Donald Trump’s phone call fact-checked
US President Donald Trump spent more than an hour on the phone with election officials in Georgia, as he continues to try to overturn the result in the state.
He made a number of accusations of fraud for which he did not provide evidence.
We’ve fact-checked some of his claims.
Claim 1: ‘So dead people voted. And I think the number is close to 5,000 people [in Georgia].’
President Trump and his supporters have repeatedly claimed thousands of votes were cast in states across the country, using the identities of people who had died.
But Georgia’s top election official, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, denied the president’s assertion, saying there were just two confirmed cases of dead people voting in the state.
The president’s lawyer Cleta Mitchell, also on the call, responded to this by suggesting they had details of dead people voting.
“There is a universe of people who have the same name and same birth year and died,” she told Mr. Raffensperger.
However, our previous investigation into a list of “10,000 dead voters” in Michigan found this approach seriously flawed.
Cross-referencing lists of deaths across the US and voters in a particular state produces thousands of matches – with the same name and birth year – both dead and alive.
Our study in Michigan produced a large number of matches even when the month of birth was included.
And we contacted a sample of these “dead voters” and found them very much alive.
Claim 2: ‘[There] were thousands and thousands of ballots in a box that was not an official or a sealed box.’
The president is referring to a video taken at a counting facility at the State Farm Arena, in Fulton County, Georgia, suggesting it reveals fraudulent activity by election workers.
The footage shows officials returning to their counting areas and a container with ballots being pulled out from under a table
“When they came back,” Mr. Trump said in his phone call, “they didn’t go to their station.
“They went to the apron wrapped around the table, under which were thousands and thousands of ballots in a box that was not an official or a sealed box.”
Election officials have previously responded to this accusation, saying the footage shows normal practice.
Gabriel Sterling, the voting system implementation manager in Georgia, tweeted state investigators who had watched the whole video had found nothing untoward.
An official investigation found “the entire security footage revealed there were no mystery ballots that were brought in from an unknown location and hidden under tables as has been reported by some”.
Fulton County elections director Richard Barron said workers “put those ballot bins under their workspace because it’s the most convenient place to put those things”.
And state authorities said there was nothing unofficial about the boxes containing the ballots.
Claim 3: ‘They ran out because of a water-main break. And there was no water main, there was nothing. There was no break.’
Mr. Trump is referring to a pause in the counting at the same location in Fulton County.
At the time, election officers issued a press statement saying a water leak had affected a room where absentee ballots were being tabulated.
An official investigation later clarified “what was initially reported as a water leak… was actually a urinal that had overflowed”.
The report said this had not affected the counting of votes by Fulton County later that evening.
President Trump also said when election workers had returned “there were no Republican poll watchers – actually, there was no Democrat poll watchers”.
This is true – but the official investigation found they had been neither asked to leave nor prevented from returning.
Frances Watson, the chief investigator for the Georgia secretary of state, said: “Nobody gave them any advice on what they should do.
“And it was still open for them or the public to come back in to view at whatever time they wanted to.”
Claim 4: ‘You had out-of-state voters – they voted in Georgia but they were from out of state – of 4,925.’
Ryan Germany, a lawyer representing Georgia’s secretary of state’s office during the call, has rejected this claim.
“Everyone we’ve been through is people that lived in Georgia, moved to a different state but then moved back to Georgia legitimately,” he said.
The numbers given by Mr. Trump’s team regarding these supposed out-of-state voters were “not accurate”, Mr. Germany added.
Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s Senate run-off election in Georgia, Mr. Raffensperger said “qualified Georgians and only Georgians are allowed to vote in our elections” and out-of-state voters would not be tolerated.
And he warned anyone attempting to game the system: “We will find you and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
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
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
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.
