TMC Report and UPDATE | July 9, 2020, 9 p.m.: People are dying at home from COVID-19 before help arrives, according to information from Houston’s health authority and the city fire chief as well as a new ProPublic/NBC News analysis.
“There’s a distinct possibility that there is an undercounting of the COVID-related deaths. In order for a death to be recorded as COVID-related, the death certificate needs to have something from the physician indicating a COVID-related illness,” David Persse, M.D., Houston’s health authority, said today at Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s news conference.
The Houston Fire Department has been finding people not breathing and not having a pulse. Some are DOA, dead on arrival, while others can be resuscitated.
Three days ago, HFD had 18 DOA calls—the most in one day all year, said Houston Fire Department Chief Samuel Peña.
“They’re having critical medical emergencies and there is nothing we can do by the time we get to the scene,” Peña said. “Do not wait to call 911 if you are having cardiac issues, respiratory issues, signs and symptoms of a stroke.”
The fire chief noted that fewer firefighters are in quarantine, but the agency is running at a heightened 1,100-plus calls a day.
A new ProPublica/NBC News report reveals that many COVID-related deaths in the Bayou City are people who never receive medical care, but end up at the morgue where their infections are counted among the COVID-19 deaths.
“In Houston, one of the nation’s fastest-growing coronavirus hot spots, more residents are dying before they can make it to a hospital. Medical examiner data shows that an increasing number of these deaths are the result of COVID-19,” the story said. “In the Houston area, the trend can be seen in autopsies performed by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. In May, among people who had died unexpectedly at home, the county medical examiner attributed just six deaths to COVID-19. In June, the number jumped to 19, with most of those cases coming in the second half of the month, coinciding with a surge in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases locally. Because the medical examiner only performs autopsies in a fraction of cases, these numbers are not comprehensive.
More broadly, Houston emergency responders have also seen an increase in deaths during cardiac arrest calls.”
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner wore a Census 2020 mask today at his news conference to emphasize the continuing need for more people to respond to the decennial count.
“With all of the federal dollars and resources that we need to combat the pandemic, quite frankly, it’s all tied to the Census,” he said.
Houston’s response—about 52.5 percent of the city’s estimated 2.32 million residents—falls below the average national response, which is above 60 percent, according to the most recent data.
“I want to encourage people to take the time to respond to the census—2020Census.gov—online. Nine questions. It doesn’t take very long at all,” the mayor said. “For each person who goes unaccounted, Houston loses about $1,500 … per year in government funds for the next 10 years. So, even a 1 percent undercount could cost the City of Houston $250 million in federal dollars. … We need that money for education, housing, health care—and representation for the Census is very important when you are trying to fight COVID-19.”
The Houston Health Department is reporting 412 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the city’s total to 26,012, with five new deaths for 250 fatalities in all. The new deaths include a Hispanic male in his 30s with underlying health conditions.
“The COVID-19 virus in the city, and quite frankly, in the state is out of control. What we do today and over the next few weeks is critical to getting this virus back in a manageable state,” Turner said, adding that the goal is to bring the number of new cases reported daily in the city to 300 or fewer. “That makes it then much more practical for us to engage with our contact tracing.”
New free testing sites will be opening in Second Ward and the Alief area soon.
Additionally, the ongoing saga of the Republican Party of Texas v. Turner—tension over a state GOP convention scheduled next week in Houston that was canceled Wednesday by the city because of the coronavirus transmission risk—became a lawsuit Thursday. Later in the day, state District Judge Larry Weiman denied the party’s request to block the city from canceling the contract. In a statement, the party announced its intention to “proceed in filing its appeal directly to the Texas Supreme Court given the time sensitivity of the matter as the Convention was scheduled to begin its committee meetings on Monday at the George R. Brown Convention Center.” — Cindy George