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DSHS Updates After COVID-19 Variant Confirmed in Texas Patient with no travel history suggests COVID-19 variant is circulating in Texas, DSHS says; vaccine expected to be effective against new variant
Published January 7, 2021 •
Updated on January 7, 2021 at 10:42 pm
NBCUniversal, Inc.
A Harris County man is confirmed to have been infected with the COVID-19 B.1.1.7 variant, the first known case in the state of Texas.
The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed the diagnosis Thursday afternoon, saying the patient was an adult male in his 30s with no history of travel. He is said to be in stable condition and isolated and will remain there until cleared by public health officials.
Looking for a COVID-19 vaccine in Houston? This map can help.
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The Texas Department of State Health Services offers a free online map of vaccine providers in Houston and Texas.Texas Department of State Health Services
Despite the slow and convoluted rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in Houston and Texas, thousands of residents across the region have been partially vaccinated, with thousands more expected to receive their shot in the coming weeks.
The vaccine is currently available only to individuals included in Phase 1A or 1B of the state’s distribution plan. Phase 1A includes frontline health care workers, first responders and nursing home residents and Phase 1B includes people 65 years and older and those with pre-existing conditions.
CPaaS uses automation and AI to modernize patient and contact identification and communications iStock
During the initial COVID-19 pandemic surge, Harris County, Texas, the third largest county in the U.S., was recording upwards of 1,800 new positive cases per day. Critical to the effort by the Harris County Public Health department to protect the county’s citizens was the ability to rapidly conduct:
Case investigations – the process of helping patients with suspected or confirmed infection recall everyone with whom they recently had close contact
Contact tracing – the process of warning people who came in close contact with an infected individual of the potential exposure to the virus
UpdatedMon, Dec 21, 2020 at 7:15 pm PT
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Previously, Shah lead the Harris County Public Health Department in Houston, Texas. (The office of The Governor)
OLYMPIA, WA Dr. Umair Shah has begun his tenure as the next Washington State Secretary of Health. Shah replaces Dr. John Wiesman, who had accepted a new position after heading the Washington State Department of Health for nearly eight years.
Before taking the job as Washington state s next top health official, Shah lead the Harris County Public Health Department in Houston, Texas for the past seven years meaning he was at the helm as the department battled the swine flu, Ebola, and Zika virus, and recently, the coronavirus pandemic. Before that, he served as an emergency department physician and as Chief Medical Officer for the Galveston County Health District.