As the number of COVID-19 cases rise in the Houston area, and seeing that the President of the United States has extended his social distancing guidelines through the end of April, Harris County Officials say they are close to announcing an extension of the stay at home order that is supposed to run out on April 3rd.
“The question is not whether we’ll be extending the order. It’s really a question of for how long,” Hidalgo said during the County's update yesterday.
The Houston area now has 1,054 cases. The city itself has 309; Harris County with 254. Harris county reported its second death yesterday; a woman in her 50's. As of now, eleven people have died in the Greater Houston area.The state has 3,320 cases, and 47 people have lost their lives.
Elsewhere:
- Montgomery County issues a shelter-in-place order for Conservatory at Alden Bridge, a senior living facility in The Woodlands that has 12 cases
- The ventilator supply is okay at the moment. Houston area hospitals have 836 adult ventilators available. There are 18,300 licensed hospital beds available, too.
- Houston Methodist hospital is testing a COVID-19 treatment that uses survivors' blood plasma to fight the infection.
- Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector & Voter Registrar Ann Harris Bennett announced that the Tax Office is providing a three-month extension of all 12-month delinquent property tax payment plans as a result of the pandemic.
- Houston Texans offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil announces he will donate $250,000 to charitable organizations both here and in his home state of Florida.