While Fort Bend County is seeing the area’s “first presumptive positive case of COVID-19,” officials said Harris County still has no confirmed cases.
Officials in Fort Bend County confirmed the patient is a man in his 70s who recently traveled abroad and is currently hospitalized in stable condition.
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Meanwhile, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo in a statement said the county has been in contact with Fort Bend County officials and County Judge KP George to offer support. She said the county is providing technical assistance and that they are working on a regional response to contain the spread.
Hidalgo said Harris County Public Health is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Texas Department of State Health Services as they monitor the outbreak.
At the same time, Houston Health Department laboratory announced Wednesday that it will now conduct COVID-19 testing for patients who meet the Centers for Control Disease testing criteria.
Results from specimens collected by medical providers from suspected cases are expected to arrive in Houston for testing within 24 hours. Until now, local health department had to send specimens to the CDC lab in Atlanta for coronavirus testing, a process that usually took 48-72 hours.