Possible Interventions to Address COVID-19 in Texas

COVID 19 in Texas
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COVID 19 in Texas
The first case of COVID 19 in Texas was reported in March 2020, and it involved a Fort Bend County resident. As of July 16, 2020, there were about 292,656 confirmed cases with approximately 3,561 deaths, according to Public Health Officials of Texas (Texas Health and Human Services, 2020). These numbers were based on around 2.9 million completed COVID-19 tests in the state (Texas Health and Human Services, 2020). Before March, the Texas Department of Health State Services had numerous suspected COVID-19 cases, which turned negative in late January. On March 17, Texas recorded its first death related to the pandemic in Matagorda County (NBC, 2020).
Since March, there have been cumulative confirmed cases in Texas. A sustained increase in new confirmed cases and hospitalizations started after mid-May and has continued into July with high cases confirmed per day. By July 11, Texas officially became the fourth most affected US state behind New York, California, and Florida (NBC, 2020). This led to the declaration of a state of emergency on March 13 by Greg Abbott, Texas's Governor. Six days later, the Texas Department of Health Services declared a public health disaster for the first time since 1901 (Texas Health and Human Services, 2020).
The state government started to issue stay-at-home order and shelter-in-place orders as the virus continued to spread. This was followed by the closure of some businesses and schools and the implementation of other restrictions aimed to control the spread of the virus in the region. Although the government has re-opened the state, Texas records still show high cases of COVID-19 and deaths. On Friday alone, the state had about ...