Nineteen die of COVID-19 at Texas nursing home, officials say, with 24 staff infected

Nineteen people at a nursing home in Texas have died from COVID-19, officials said Wednesday.

Missouri City officials received notice from Fort Bend County on Aug. 5 that 19 people at Paradigm at First Colony Nursing Home died from the coronavirus, the city said in a news release.

The county also reported that the nursing home has 38 cases of coronavirus and 24 infected staff members, according to the city.

After getting word, Missouri City Mayor Yolanda Ford contacted Texas Health and Human Services officials to request she be notified of COVID-19 cases within Missouri City and to receive “mechanisms instituted by the State” to address outbreaks in the city.

Missouri City is southwest of Houston.

According to officials, the State of Texas has jurisdiction over nursing homes in Missouri City.

“The lack of city authority is a challenge, especially during a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ford said in the release.

“The harrowing development speaks to the severity of this pandemic, and how everyone needs to take it even more seriously,” she said.

Ford said the only way to beat the virus is to practice social distancing, follow mask mandates and increase “communication among our local, county and state leaders.”

As of Aug. 6, Fort Bend County has had 8,559 confirmed cases of coronavirus since the onset of the pandemic and 101 deaths, according to Fort Bend Health and Human Services.

Texas has averaged 8,414 new COVID-19 cases per day over the last week, a 16% drop from the average two weeks prior, the New York Times reported.