“This is no longer a disease of the old.”
That was Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic that is beginning to put a serious strain on the medical infrastructure in Texas.
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Hidalgo held a joint news conference Thursday with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner where she urged residents to wear masks in public and get vaccinated as she raised the pandemic’s threat level back to orange, the highest level possible, for the first time since last June.
And to emphasize how the Delta variant has raised the stakes in the fight against COVID, Hidalgo pointed out that it is no longer the elderly who are overwhelmingly at risk, saying the average age of currently hospitalized COVID patients is 20.
“Once again our health care system is strained by COVID-19," Hidalgo said. “It’s straining our staff, straining our hospitals, and it is imposing heartbreak and anxiety on so many families in Harris County.”
“We find ourselves retracing our steps toward the edge of a cliff,” Hidalgo added. “It’s very conceivable that we can once again be heading toward a public health catastrophe.”
She highlighted that the much more contagious Delta variant has combined with a medical community stretched to its limits and a limited authority to enforce restrictions have all combined to create the formidable surge that is tightening its grip on the community.
“We’re facing a perfect storm,” Hidalgo said.
Mayor Turner backed her up just days after going against Governor Greg Abbott’s wishes and requiring city workers to wear masks in the midst of surge that has hit home – 197 city employees are currently dealing with COVID diagnoses.
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“The numbers will dictate my response, and then we’ll deal with whatever happens after that. But I’m not going to be constrained by some order,” Turner said. “Wherever this virus goes, and whatever we need to do to check it and to save lives, is what I’m prepared to do.”
Their concerns are not unfounded. Hospitalizations have risen for 20 consecutive days and could be about a week away from setting a pandemic record if the current pace continues.
The same day of Hidalgo and Turner’s conference, the Texas Medical Center in Houston admitted 300 new COVID patients, a new pandemic high 16 months in.