Mega Doctor News
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – COVID-19 cases in Brownsville, Texas are surging, resulting in the City moving its Threat Level Matrix to a Level 3 effective January 4th.
As the City monitors this increase in cases, the public must stay vigilant and aware that this can take a toll on every member of the community, including the most vulnerable, as well as healthcare staff. Measures taken during the height of the pandemic, such as mask wearing, sanitizing, hand washing, and social distancing proved to be effective methods in stopping the transmission of the virus.
“The City of Brownsville has been vigilant in working with Cameron County and other local partners to lower the community transmission rates. Leaders and ambassadors in the community have stepped up to mitigate how to deal with COVID-19 surges, including masking, social distancing, testing, and vaccinating,” said Dr. Art Rodriguez, Public Health Director. “We want to encourage the community to visit btxcares.com to find testing sites, rather than visiting the emergency room to get a test, which could potentially overwhelm our healthcare staff. In doing so, our community will be able to continue to proactively fight against COVID-19.”
Making the assessment to move to Level 3 on the City of Brownsville’s Threat Level Matrix is being done to ensure that the City of Brownsville, along with local health partners and authorities, work together to protect the community, while also monitoring multiple factors such as new hospital admissions, transmission rates, positive cases, and current ICU and ventilator patients.
The following is the City of Brownsville’s Threat Matrix Level 3 Guidance:
- Fully vaccinated individuals should continue to protect themselves by wearing a mask when partaking in gatherings/meetings, traveling, dining, or shopping, if they are unable to socially distance.
- Partially or unvaccinated individuals should avoid large meetings, travel, dining, and shopping, unless deemed essential. Masks should be worn when performing any of these necessary activities.
- Community members should minimize contact with those outside of their immediate household, limiting gatherings to ten people, and avoiding any medium or large meetings.
- Proper hand washing and hand sanitation should be performed as needed to minimize the spread of the virus.
- Follow new CDC guidelines available at cdc.gov.
These recommendations remain as guidelines for everyone to act on based on the potential for high level contagion that would overwhelm local healthcare systems, as well as affect various businesses and populations. Every member of the community should do their part and follow any additional requirements of businesses, venues, and schools, regardless of vaccination status.
COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters continue to offer the best protection against the virus and its variants. Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses are available at locations around the city and can be found at btxcares.com, along with testing locations. As of today, 21% of our eligible population (5 years and older) are not fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 vaccinations are free and do not require insurance. Residents can locate providers in their area by using vaccines.gov in English or vacunas.gov in Spanish.
For more recommendations and resources, please visit btxcares.com on how to prioritize your health, along with the health of the community.
