Doctors, health officials tell Texas lawmakers more resources needed for coronavirus
As the number of positive cases of the novel coronavirus grows in Texas, state lawmakers heard from health experts and physicians Tuesday who expressed concerns about the need for more resources to combat the virus’ spread.
But state officials stressed they feel a declaration of a public health disaster is not warranted.
“When I say that right now I don’t see that need, I can’t tell you that tomorrow it won’t be a different circumstance,” said John Hellerstedt, the Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner, stressing how rapidly the situation could change.
Governors across the U.S. have issued disaster proclamations or states of emergency over coronavirus concerns, but Gov. Greg Abbott has yet to make a similar declaration. Officials in Austin and Travis County and San Antonio and Bexar County previously declared local states of disaster.
Texas officials have stressed that the risk to Texans remains low, and that the travel-related cases do not mean there has yet been community spread in Texas — cases where people who have been infected do not know how or where they were exposed.
State law allows the governor to declare a state of disaster if one has occurred or if one is imminent, and it permits a wide breadth of responses, such as controlling the movement of people and reassigning state resources.
In addition to the governor’s ability to issue a disaster declaration, Hellerstedt said he could proclaim a public health disaster. While the declaration can send a powerful message, Hellerstedt said such declarations would not “create any additional resources really to speak of.”
“They do pave the way for other types of control measures of social distancing that wouldn’t be used in normal circumstances,” Hellerstedt said.
However later in the hearing, Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, said he didn’t see a downside to a disaster declaration, citing that it seemed inevitable.
The state also has the ability to issue formal legal directives to require individuals isolate or quarantine themselves because they pose a threat of spreading a contagious disease. But Hellerstedt stressed that the more people abide by measures recommended to slow the spread of the disease — like staying home when sick — “the less likely we are to need quarantine-type measures.”
Charles Lerner, an infectious disease specialist from San Antonio who spoke on behalf of the Texas Medical Association, said the number of positive cases in Texas is expected to rise.
Eric Martinez, an emergency medicine physician assistant from Houston and president of the Texas Academy of Physician Assistants, said frontline health care providers have faced conflicting information.
Martinez pointed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent guidelines that state “clinicians should use their judgment” to determine if a patients’ symptoms warrant coronavirus testing.
“However, many of us on the front lines are being discouraged from testing patients due to the limited number of tests available in each county’s health department,” Martinez said.
What’s more, Martinez said personal protective equipment for health care providers is in short supply, with discussions of rationing and reusing what equipment is available.
Donna Boatright, a nurse and the CEO of the Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital in Sweetwater — roughly 200 miles west of Fort Worth — said her hospital has begun to face a shortage of supplies.
“While I was in this committee hearing I received a text from my purchasing agent saying that we cannot get any hand sanitizer through either of our agreed purchasing organization suppliers,” Boatright said. “We are not alone, other rural hospitals have already faced this situation.”
Mike Morath, the Commissioner of Education who oversees the Texas Education Agency, said school districts are largely in charge of determining closures, and guidance has been issued encouraging districts to first consult with their local health authorities.
Meanwhile, a slew of Senate and House hearings scheduled for the next few months were postponed Monday over concerns related to the coronavirus.
Tuesday, Abbott and the Texas Department of Insurance requested that health insurance providers and health management organizations operating in Texas waive costs associated with diagnosing and testing for coronavirus.
Six public health labs, including Tarrant County’s, are capable of testing for coronavirus locally, with four more on the way by the end of the month, Abbott said last week.
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 5:17 PM.
