Following the lead of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, local leaders are taking steps towards recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Harris County and the city of Houston both named recovery 'czars.' State Representative Armando Walle will lead the recovery efforts in Harris County, and says Houstonians have dealt with adversity before.
"In the aftermath of a crisis, we always come together, and we always emerge stronger than before," Walle said.
But Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo says the stay at home orders are not being lifted yet.
"The difference between surviving as a community and setting ourselves up for a devastating second curve is on each of us," Hidalgo explained.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner named ex-Shell president and Hurricane Harvey recovery leader, Marvin Odum as the city leader in the recovery effort.
The Greater Houston area reported 252 more positive cases yesterday. There were seven new deaths to bring the total to 153. The City of Houston itself reported 107 new cases, but no deaths.
The State of Texas reported 673 new cases of the virus and 20 deaths to bring the total to 520.
Elsewhere:
- New research suggests that far as many as 25% of those infected with COVID-19 had it without any symptoms.
- More than 1,200 members of the Texas National Guard will be deployed to set up two dozen mobile testing sites.
- Nursing homes will be required to report COVID-19 cases within their facilities to the CDC.
- The sales tax holiday for emergency supplies is still on this weekend despite the coronavirus pandemic.
- And alcohol sales in Harris County were down 94 percent from February. That's because restaurants are to go only. The numbers do not reflect liquor stores sales.