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New York helps Houston open two COVID-19 testing sites
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent help to Houston, opening two COVID-19 testing sites.
HOUSTON - Two new testing sites are now available in Houston thanks to the state of New York.
On Thursday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he’s returning the favor to places like Houston, who helped tremendously in the spring.
"We’re not going anywhere. We’re here so anything you need moving forward but I’m glad we were able to help," Gov. Cuomo said.
During a conference call Thursday, Gov. Cuomo said the two new testing sites established in northwest and southwest Houston, is just the Empire State returning the favor, now that their numbers have stabilized.
So far, Cuomo says New York has sent PPE and more than 20 healthcare workers and public health experts to help with Houston’s COVID-19 response.
Mayor Turner says he’s grateful.
"Let me thank you and your team for reaching out. You did not wait for example for us to call you all. You reached out to us in the city of Houston so I want to thank you for your teams that are already on the ground," Turner said. The mayor told Gov. Cuomo that just as New York did this time around, Houston will be sure to pay it forward again in the future.
As an added show of support, the free, walk-up sites at Higher Dimension Church and Fallbrook Church boast a sign out front that says ‘New York loves Houston.”
Both testing sites are located in vulnerable, minority communities hit hardest by the pandemic and will provide an additional thousand tests per day for the next two weeks. An appointment is required at the testing sites.
But Dr. Peter Hotez with Baylor College of Medicine says there’s an underlying issue going unnoticed.
"The bigger issue is this that if you think about what's happening is the states and the cities are talking to each other through this kind of informal network this sort of shadow government because the executive branch of the federal government is simply not there. It's evaporated. There is no national plan or national road map. Now, the southern United States accounts for one-quarter of all the new COVID cases globally," Dr. Hotez said.
With a continued lack of federal guidance, Dr Hotez says individual states and counties having to fend for their own is not a recipe for success.
Dr. Hotez says at this rate, shutting down Texas again seems inevitable. He worries it may not even be enough.
"At a minimum, probably go back to Phase One. And I don't know the two weeks will be enough. We may have to do it for a longer period of time," Dr. Hotez said.