Texas’ most populous state on Wednesday issued a public safety warning to warn residents to celebrate New Year’s Eve with someone other than those in their immediate household.
KHOU-11, a local CBS affiliate, reports the warning from Harris County, which contains Houston, said residents to “protect yourself, family and health workers.”
Dr. Ali Mokdad, a researcher who helped create the COVID-19 model used by the White House, told the television station that an increase in cases and mobility had been observed, but that wearing a mask remained stagnant. .
“The concern for New Year’s Eve is completely different,” Mokdad told the station. “It’s a different kind of celebration. People celebrate it with friends, family and sometimes people they don’t know. It can be a super-distribution event on top of what you see in Texas.”
More than 60 percent of ICU beds in Texas are currently occupied by COVId-19 patients, KHOU reports, with cases expected to peak in January.
According to the model of Mokdad, Texas could experience up to 35,000 deaths by the beginning of February if trends continue as they are.
‘Many shortages of ICU beds have many hospitals. “If you put so much pressure on hospitals, we may have to start referring patients to other hospitals far from where they live,” Mokdad said.
KHOU notes that the explosion of the vaccine was much slower than expected. Trump officials on Wednesday defended the pace of vaccine distribution, claiming that up to 20 million doses will be made available to all 64 U.S. territories.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 2 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered so far.
“Mask carrying 95 percent will perform much better from April 1, especially compared to the rapid introduction of the vaccines simply because we do not have enough vaccines,” Mokdad added, adding that the pandemic is likely to get much worse in January. .