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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — With rising fears in the U.S. of an outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus, health officials in Harris County want to address efforts to prevent the spread of the deadly illness.
“There are no known cases of coronavirus in Harris County or in Houston,” county judge Lina Hidalgo insured Monday.
A news conference with Hidalgo and the executive director of Harris County Public Health was held Monday afternoon. You can watch a portion of the briefing in the video above.
Similar to city of Houston, the county said there are no cases of the virus.
Before the weekend, the Centers for Disease Control counted 11 cases of the coronavirus in Texas.
“I recognize that people are anxious, they’re scared,” Hidalgo said. “It makes sense for the community to feel that way. It is a scary situation, it’s an uncertain situation.”
The news conference also comes in the midst of the rising death toll nationally. There are six deaths from COVID-19, all of them reported in Washington state.
The city and county say they will not be releasing any information on suspected cases.
They made this decision out of precaution not to cause panic and discourage individuals from stepping forward to be tested.
On Sunday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner sent a message to Houstonians via Twitter in hopes to set the record straight about some social media rumors related to the virus.
Sylvester Turner✔@SylvesterTurner
There are a lot of things being said on social media. But just for the record there are no confirmed cases of the #coronavirusus in Houston, Harris County. st
The concern of an outbreak has created a far-reaching impact beyond Texas, with other states dealing with their own public health crises.
In the Houston area, COVID-19 has impacted local businesses as well as overseas travel from southeast Texas.
On Saturday, Rice University asked a group of its students and employees to self-quarantine after fearing that an employee who traveled overseas may have been exposed to the virus.
The university said the procedure was taken out of an abundance of caution.
The video above is from a previous story.
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