AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- The State of Texas says it's requesting more resources for COVID-19 testing, medical personnel, and monoclonal antibody treatments from the federal government.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced the move Friday morning. "While the Biden administration has cut supplies of monoclonal antibody treatments and testing kits when they are needed most, the State of Texas is urging the federal government to step up in this fight and provide the resources necessary to help protect Texans," said Abbott in a statement. "Testing sites, additional medical staff, and continued shipments of therapeutics from the federal government will help us continue to save lives and mitigate the spread of COVID-19."
The request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency will focus testing sites in six Texas counties based on positivity rate and hospitalization metrics, including Bexar, Cameron, Dallas, Harris, Hidalgo and Tarrant Counties.
Nearly 11,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported by DSHS on Thursday, with another 4,700 probable cases. As of Wednesday, there were just over 5,500 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide, an increase of more than 2,000 in the last week.
According to the statement, DSHS is also requesting additional allocations of sotrovimab, a monoclonal antibody therapeutic that is proven to be effective in fighting the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and reducing hospitalizations. The agency also requested that the federal government continue to supply Regeneron and bamlanivimab, monoclonal antibody treatments for other strains of COVID-19 that have also proven to help reduce hospitalizations.