5 things for Houstonians to know for Friday, July 10

Dr. Joseph Varon, center, visits with Dorothy Webb, left, and her daughter, Tammie, while making his rounds inside the Coronavirus Unit at United Memorial Medical Center, Monday, July 6, 2020, in Houston. Varon says he has worked more than 100 days with barely a rest and normally sleeps just a few hours a night. When he isn't seeing patients or trying to obtain more hospital supplies, he does media interviews to try to warn people to wear masks and take the virus seriously. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) (David J. Phillip, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Here are things you need to know for Friday, July 10:

1. Coronavirus in Houston, state ‘is out of control,’ Mayor Turner says

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Mayor Sylvester Turner said the coronavirus pandemic in Houston and in Texas is out of control and that Houstonians actions in the next few weeks were critical to slowing the spread of the deadly virus.

The Houston Health Department reported 412 new coronavirus cases, bringing the city’s total to 26,012. The department also reported five additional COVID-19 related deaths, according to Turner.

He emphasized how it is vital that the city bring the cases down to 300 reports for at least seven days because it will make it more practical to engage with the city’s contact tracing.

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2. Nearly 14% of new U.S. COVID-19 cases are recorded in Texas

With the daily number of new coronavirus infections in Texas now exceeding most other states, experts say Texas has become a hotspot of the global pandemic and that more aggressive measures are needed to slow the virus’ spread.

Texas’ new, confirmed cases of the coronavirus now make up around 14% of the U.S. total — measured by a 7-day average — a significantly higher proportion than its 9% share of the nation’s population. Since July 1, the U.S. has reported 358,027 new infections. Of those, 50,599 were in Texas.

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3. Harris Health System requests traveling nurses to help fight COVID-19 surge

The Harris Health System, which oversees both Ben Taub and Lyndon B. Johnson hospitals, is bringing nurses to Houston to help fight the surge in coronavirus cases. As of July 4, twenty-three traveling nurses have been contracted, according to the Chief Nursing Executive at Harris Health Maureen Padilla.

Harris Health is looking to bring in an additional 133 nurses but admits finding help has not been easy.

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4. Houston files lawsuit against Texas General Land Office from taking control of Harvey diaster funds

Mayor Sylvester Turner and the city of Houston seek a temporary restraining order to prevent the Texas General Land Office from taking control of Hurricane Harvey disaster relief funds.

The city of Houston asked a Travis County State District Court Judge to prevent the GLO from seizing $1.3 billion allocated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Nearly two years ago, the federal government provided those funds to assist Houston homeowners, whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Harvey.

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5. South Texas landowners are hoping to use President Trump’s own words against him in a new border wall lawsuit

Landowners in South Texas are launching another front in their battle against President Trump’s efforts to build a wall on the Texas-Mexico border. And this time, they’re using the president’s own words against him.

In a federal lawsuit filed Monday in Laredo, Zapata County and two border landowners are alleging that the construction of the barrier is driven by little more than racism and politics and is therefore unconstitutional.

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3 things to share

WORD OF THE DAY

Sacchariferous [sak-uh-rif-er-uhs] (adjective) (chemistry) containing or yielding sugar.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

July 10, 1925: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called Scopes Monkey Trial begins with John Thomas Scopes, a young high school science teacher, accused of teaching evolution in violation of a Tennessee state law.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Fishes live in the sea, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones.” - William Shakespeare


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