The county hopes to host more than two testing sites, said Jacquelyn Minter, Fort Bend County Health and Human Services Department director and local health authority.
“We have two facilities as of today that are open, and we are researching more,” she said. “And we'll have those come on board very, very soon. ... Testing is going to be one of the key things that helps us to know what is going on in our community.”
County Judge KP George said at the press conference that the county does not plan to partner with entities performing private testing and will instead focus on opening more county-run sites.
“We need to focus on more [testing sites] available rather than looking at those who are [already] doing it because some people can't afford [private testing],” George said.
Minter said the county may be close to the peak of its coronavirus case numbers, but it is difficult to gauge.
“We also know that with viruses, they often have a peak, and then, they slow down a little, and then, there’s another peak,” she said. “So we’re not quite sure exactly when that would happen.”
Previous estimates from the University of Texas projected the Greater Houston area’s peak will occur April 28, she said.
The county is also preparing for a second wave this fall by stockpiling supplies, George confirmed.
“When it comes to the second wave, we are going to be much more prepared,” he said.
Testing data
In Fort Bend County, there are a total of 957 confirmed positive cases of the coronavirus, according to the county’s dashboard of COVID-19 data, which was last updated 12:43 p.m. April 27.
One hundred and twenty cases have recovered, and 22 people have died, per the dashboard.
The county's testing sites has performed 2,485 tests, per the dashboard. They are recording data about how many patients are symptomatic and asymptomatic, Minter said.
At the conference, Minter said the county has asked other entities in the county that are testing for their total testing numbers, but they have not provided the data. However, these testing entities are required to share any confirmed positive cases, and these numbers are reflected in the county’s dashboard for the total number of confirmed positive cases of the coronavirus.
She added that the county will receive additional assistance from the state to conduct contact tracing, which involves interviewing cases to learn who else may have come into contact with them and may have contracted the virus, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
