KRLD 1080

Federally Supported COVID-19 Testing Sites To Stay Open In Texas

Texas Governor Greg Abbott says the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has extended federal support for COVID-19 testing sites in Dallas and Houston. Federal support will continue through the end of July."The State of Texas is committed to providing ample testing resources as we work to contain the recent surge in COVID-19 cases," Abbott wrote in a statement. "Our continued collaboration with our federal partners is essential to our efforts. The extension of this program in Dallas and Houston will help secure more testing for Texans in these communities. There are over 900 testing sites across the state of Texas, and I urge Texans in need of a test to find a site nearest them."Testing sites can be found around the state at covidtest.tdem.texas.gov. No-cost testing is available at some locations; others require payment and insurance information. Some offer drive-thru testing, others are walk-in and require authorization from a doctor.People eligible for testing at locations without a doctor's order should be showing symptoms such as a fever, chills, cough, sore throat, vomiting, muscle pain, diarrhea, new loss of taste or smell, or shortness of breath.Some locations will also accept people who have been "prioritized by the state or local health department for testing." Eligibility and hours for each location are available at the link above.Sunday, Dallas County reported an additional 1,174 cases of COVID-19 and two additional deaths. Dallas County has now reported more than a thousand cases of COVID-19 for ten straight days.The county says about half of all cases since June 1 have been people between the ages of 18 and 39.“We can stop the surge of cases going higher if we all take responsibility and make our best choices. You focus on the micro-level, and by that I mean focus on your family and your circle, and let our team focus on the macro-level," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins wrote in a statement. "Please always take your mask with you when leaving the home, even if you’re going on a walk and carrying it in your pocket. You never know when you’ll be around others. Always wear your mask when you’re within six feet of people outside your family or when traveling inside of any building other than your home. We can do this North Texas, but it takes all of us."Dallas County has confirmed a total of 33,800 cases and 451 deaths. Of those who have died, the county says about a third have been associated with long-term care facilities.The rate of tests coming back positive also reached an all-time high Sunday across Texas at 16.33%. The positivity rate has stayed above 13% since June 26 and has been above 10% since June 23. Abbott has said a rate above 10% would be a "red flag" and said the rate would have to stay below that level to loosen restrictions.Hospitalizations also increased to a record 10,410 Sunday. Hospitals in North Texas reported 1,895 COVID-19 patients. They had 2,689 open beds, 297 available ICU beds and 1,190 available ventilators.

July 13, 2020

One Of The Largest Coronavirus Studies In The US Taking Place In North Texas

One of the largest coronavirus studies in the nation will be starting here in North Texas.UT Southwestern will begin a trial to understand why African Americans and Latinos are more impacted by COVID-19 than others.Amit Singal is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern and says they will randomly test 30,000 people from both Dallas and Tarrant Counties and 15,000 from selected businesses.The researchers will reportedly keep tabs on those tested for up to one year.Singal believes factors like jobs, living conditions and health are likely contributing to the disparity.

July 13, 2020

Researchers Create Air Filter That Can Kill Coronavirus ‘Instantly’

A team of researchers at the University of Houston claim to have developed a heated air filter that can capture coronavirus and kill it in an instant. The filter is made from heated nickel foam and was designed by Dr. Zhifeng Ren, director of the Texas Center of Superconductivity at the university, reported the Houston Chronicle. Ren and his team conducted tests at Galveston National Laboratory and discovered 99.8% of the novel virus was killed “instantly” after passing through the filter that was heated to 392 degrees Fahrenheit, the outlet reported. Researchers led by Zhifeng Ren of @UH_NSM and the Texas Center for Superconductivity have discovered a new filter system capable of capturing and killing the virus that causes #COVID-19. https://t.co/NAkeFI5srN— UH Media Relations (@UH_News) June 18, 2020Dr. Garrett Peel, who works for the medical real estate development firm Mediastar, collaborated on the filter’s design and believes it is a game-changer. “It filters the virus. It catches it. It kills it. Without impacting the temperature of the ambient air,” Peel said. The researchers envision a phased roll out of the filter to “high-priority venues” such as hospitals, nursing homes and schools. “This filter could be useful in airports and in airplanes, in office buildings, schools and cruise ships to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Ren said. “Its ability to help control the spread of the virus could be very useful for society.” Mediastar is looking to develop a smaller desktop version which could be used at an individual’s work station. "It's basically a high-performance COVID-19 killer," Peel said. "This is safe and effective. We want to roll this out of Texas first and start deploying them in schools, nursing homes. This unit could be deployed in 60 days." Peel is hoping the filter gets on the radar of federal and state leaders, so they can collaborate to get the filter in as many spaces possible. "It provides an extra sense of security, knowing that our children and elderly are protected," Peel added. 'We need our leaders to step up and create private and public partnerships to get this product into our schools and protect our children." LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COMFacebook | Twitter | Instagram

July 11, 2020

Study Reveals Which People Are Most Likely to Be Killed by COVID-19

With rising cases of COVID-19 around the world, public health experts are urging people to continue mitigation techniques like social distancing and wearing a mask to lower their risk of infection, especially if they belong to a high-risk group. A new study out of Oxford University, the biggest of its kind, confirmed some findings from earlier studies in regards to factors that can raise the risk of death for COVID-19 patients, reports The New York Times. The massive study looked at the medical records of 17 million adults in England, including over 10,000 people who died due to COVID-19, and determined that certain risk factors made people more susceptible to death if infected with the novel virus. Dr. Ben Goldacre, one of the study’s authors, said “a lot of previous work has focused on patients that present at hospital. That’s useful and important, but we wanted to get a clear sense of the risks as an everyday person. Our starting pool is literally everybody.” The study, published in Nature, found that factors like diabetes, obesity, a compromised immune system, and severe asthma make people more vulnerable to complications from the coronavirus. Men were found to be more likely to die compared to women of the same age, and patients older than 80 were at least 20 times as likely to die from coronavirus compared to someone in their 50s. The study also found that race and socioeconomic factors like poverty increase a person’s likelihood of dying from COVID-19. Researchers found this trend even after making statistical adjustments for factors like medical conditions, sex, and age. Participants in the study were required to have at least one year of prior follow-up with a general medical practice in order to ensure baseline characteristics. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COMFacebook | Twitter | Instagram

July 11, 2020

The Battle Over Holding The Texas Republican Convention In Houston Continues

DALLAS (KRLD) - The city canceled the convention, which was set to be held at the George R Brown Convention Center from July 16-18th. This comes, of course, as cases of Covid-19 continues to surge in Houston and Harris County. About 6,000 people would have attended. The Battle Over Holding The Texas Republican Convention The Republican Party sued and Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey vowed to appeal to the state supreme court. Texas Democrats say four of those judges are convention sponsors and they should be recused from the case.Dallas attorney Ed Klein says "the defendants, in that case, the mayor of Houston and Houston first and whoever else may be named as a defendant, would certainly have the standing and the right to question whether those four justices can be fair and impartial in a case like this."He says it would be appropriate for justices Nathan Hecht, Jane Bland, Jeff Boyd, and Brett Busby to recuse themselves.

July 10, 2020

School Districts Pushing Back Start Date For 2020

DALLAS (KRLD) - Two North Texas school districts have decided to delay the start of classes for the 2020-2021 school year. The Denton ISD has moved its first day of class from Wednesday, August 12th to Wednesday, August 26th. The Little Elm ISD has moved its first day of class from Wednesday, August 12th to Tuesday, August 25th.Teachers in both districts will still return in early August."In a year where we are faced with a pandemic that none of us has ever dealt with before, we felt like we needed more training opportunities with our teachers," said Little Elm ISD Assistant Superintendent Dr. Cynthia Anne Mika. "Our teachers need time to develop the lessons for the first few weeks of school."Little Elm is moving its professional learning days for staffers to August 3rd. They will run from that date through August 24th instead of being scattered throughout the year. They will use that time to adjust to some of challenges they will face in teaching classes both in-person and on-line."We want all of our staff to be successful and 100% ready when our students return," said Little Elm ISD Superintendent Daniel Gallagher.The Denton ISD is consolidating its teacher workdays at the front of the 2020-2021 calendar. Teachers will begin work on August 4th in advance of the first day of instruction for students on Wednesday, August 26th."By pushing the official start date to August 26th, we will have our staff on-hand to practice all safety protocols and build even greater expectations for student learning," said Denton ISD Superintendent Dr. Jamie Wilson. "Our staff is very adept at face-to-face instruction, which is what we want more than anything, having a few extra days is essential as we ensure safety protocols are in place for the comfort level of our families and staff."The Denton ISD is keeping the last day of instruction for students as Thursday, May 27 of 2021.The decisions come as the UIL announced that students who choose to use on-line, at-home learning options this fall will still be able to participate in extra-curricular activities. Those would include football, volleyball, and other fall sports - assuming those seasons go ahead as planned.

July 10, 2020

COVID-19 Tests: Make Sure You're Not Paying Unnecessary Charges

The Texas Department Of Insurance says make sure you call your doctor first. If your doctor says it's medically necessary for you to get the test, it's free based on federal law.But, spokesperson Ben Gonzalez says, "Before you get your test, you'll want to ask about any extra costs that you'll have to pay, including related fees. Also, don't agree to any non-COVID tests at the same time, unless your doctor has asked for those as well."He says ask your doctor which testing site they recommend.He also says avoid going to the emergency room for this unless you have a medical emergency due to the expensive emergency room costs.

July 10, 2020

Texas Sets Record For COVID-19 Hospitalizations, Deaths, Rate Of Positive Tests

Texas reported 105 deaths across the state from COVID-19 Thursday, and the number of hospitalizations reached 9,689. The seven day average of tests coming back positive was 15.56%. All three numbers were the highest since the outbreak began.During a series of interviews with television stations across the state, Governor Greg Abbott said "numbers are going to look worse" next week. Thursday, Abbott ordered hospitals in 100 counties to stop elective surgeries and said wearing masks has helped contain the spread of the virus in other countries. He said masks could help prevent the need for additional restrictions on businesses.Dallas County reported 1,201 additional cases Thursday along with ten deaths.The North Texas Medical Society Coalition answered questions on Facebook Live Thursday evening. Pulmonologist Harshit Rao specializes in lung diseases and ICU care. He says some patients have to spend four weeks in ICU."We monitor them and manage them and give them therapies, sometimes not once but twice or thrice, as long as it takes to see if we can get them better," Rao says.Rao says that length of time in ICU may be leading to the longer-term issues some people have dealt with after recovering from COVID-19."What you don't use, you lose. That's what happens to these folks," he says. "Rehab from debility takes a long time. It's been said that every day you spend in bed, you need a week of rehab."Hospitals in North Texas reported 2,293 available hospital beds Thursday and 244 available ICU beds. The number of open ICU beds has dropped from 320 Wednesday and 455 at the beginning of July.

July 10, 2020

Federal Medical Personnel Headed To Dallas As Backup Help

Federal medical personnel are headed to Parkland hospital in Dallas to provide what local leaders call much needed backup as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to climb.Texas Governor Abbott and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson requested the additional help.In a tweet yesterday Mayor Johnson said the reinforcements heading to Dallas are part of the Disaster Medical Assistance Teams under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.These teams, which include medical professionals and specialists, are often deployed for natural disasters, terrorist attacks or disease outbreaks to help when local systems become overwhelmed.Other federal medicial teams have already been deployed to San Antonio and Houston.Here are the bed and ventilator capacity statistics as reported by 25 hospitals in the @CityOfDallas:Total beds: 5846Beds occupied: 4218 (72%)Total ICU beds: 939ICU beds occupied: 654 (70%)Total ventilators: 961Ventilators in use: 372 (39%)— Mayor Eric Johnson (@Johnson4Dallas) July 10, 2020

July 10, 2020

Irving Company Goes Out Of Business In The Midst Of A Key Coronvirus Immune System Study

An Irving health data company has abruptly gone out of business in the middle of an important study on how immune systems respond to the Coronavirus.EMSI Examination Management Services was tasked with collecting about a thousand blood samples from across the country.But now, it's clear the company closed its doors for good a week ago today ahead of the Independence Day holiday weekend. This puts thousands of employees out of work.Experts also suggest the closure will cause delays in clinical studies.

July 10, 2020