Texas to increase COVID testing in minority communities and cities with large protests
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that the state will ramp up testing for the novel coronavirus in minority communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the virus.
The Texas Division of Emergency Management will work with local officials to bring additional walk-up and drive-through testing sites to underserved areas. The agency is working with officials in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, El Paso, Abilene, the Rio Grande Valley, the Coastal Bend, Laredo and Midland-Odessa to identify areas, with more to come in the coming days.
Seth Christensen, a spokesman for the division, wrote in an email Monday that the agency has been in discussions with Tarrant County Emergency Management and Tarrant County Public Health on the topic, and that the two are working together to finalize the details.
“As the State of Texas continues to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, we are committed to ensuring every Texan has access to COVID-19 testing no matter where they live,” Abbott said in a statement Monday. “We must address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underserved and minority communities and ensure that anyone who needs a test can have one.“
Monday’s announcement comes after the Texas Health and Human Services Commission also said it plans to study the virus’ affect on vulnerable populations, including looking at factors such as race and ethnicity.
State lawmakers have also called for Abbott to establish an emergency task force to study COVID-19’s effect on Texas’ black communities. Nationwide, in cities and states that have reported demographic data, black residents are disproportionately contracting COVID-19 and dying from it.
Rep. Shawn Thierry, a Democrat from Houston who led the effort for an emergency task force, said in a statement Monday that her office has reached out to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to ensure African-American medical professionals, legislators and other stakeholders are able to give their input on the study’s planning and goals.
“To be clear, this action by HHSC is a step in the right direction, but it is only one of many steps which must be taken to comprehensively create health equity in black communities such as my district and across the state. I believe other actions require more aggressive strategies than facilitating the study as we are losing more, and more black lives each day around the country.,” Thierry said in a statement.
Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Brooks, who has been vocal about the need for additional testing sites, especially in areas where large populations of black residents live, said that in general he supports more testing being made available.
“I don’t think that people are going to feel secure about going to these reopened places without a more extensive testing program,” Brooks said. “And to the extent that the governor is willing to do that, I’m in favor of it. Of course, the devil is in the details as to who gets included and who doesn’t.”
In addition, the division is also working to offer more testing sites in cities where large protests spurred by the death of George Floyd have occurred. Public health officials in Austin have recommended all residents who participated in protests get tested for COVID-19, even if they’re not showing symptoms.
“As many Texans continue to gather for protests, the state is also taking steps to address potential surges in COVID-19 cases,” Abbott said in a statement.
Texas has sought to bolster testing with mobile test sites that have been sent throughout the state in collaboration with Division of Emergency Management, the Texas Department of State Health Services, the Texas Military Department and the Texas Emergency Medical Task Force. Testing sites can be found online in a searchable map at covidtest.tdem.texas.gov.
Tarrant County has previously worked with the state to bring temporary sites to Bedford and Mansfield. The Tarrant County Commissioners Court is scheduled to discuss Tuesday whether to approve an additional testing site for this weekend at the Miller Avenue Government Center.
Texas has struggled to fully assess the virus’ effect on racial groups, as it did not mandate the reporting of demographic data, and the data it receives from local health departments can be incomplete.
Tarrant County also lacks a complete picture, with no race or ethnicity reported for 25.13% of cases as of Monday, according to the Tarrant County Department of Public Health. An analysis by NPR also found that testing sites are disproportionately in whiter neighborhoods, with six out of 18 testing sites in Fort Worth in minority neighborhoods.
Brooks said he would like to see more test sites across the county, and that better data collection on race and ethnicity of cases is necessary.
“Any data that we can collect that bolsters our case for additional testing is good data,” Brooks said. “But it’s not something we can mandate. It is something that the governor can mandate.”
This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 1:31 PM.
