Threat Level Elevated to Red in Fort Bend County

COVID-19 cases and the need of hospitalization have been exponentially increasing in Fort Bend County, causing Judge KP George to elevate the threat level from orange to red.

Fort Bend County Health and Human Services Director Dr. Jacquelyn Johnson-Minter said the county has surpassed 25,000 cases and just in two weeks, 5,000 more have been infected with the virus.

The fast escalation of cases could be related to both an important increase of testing and holiday season gatherings, which are most likely to keep increasing. Judge George said there is hope with the vaccine but at the moment, safe distance, wearing masks and avoiding large gatherings is needed to help slow down the spread.

Fort Bend’s Covid-19 Response Hub shows that they have conducted 89,491 tests and that they currently have 26,451 confirmed cases. From the general population, the age group that has been most impacted in terms of COVID-19 cases has been young people aged 18-29 a majority of which are women.

“Save lives and protect our citizens. That’s what we are trying to do by elevating the threat level today,” Judge George said. In spite of the ongoing efforts, the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases have pushed Fort Bend County to be ranked the 12th county in the state with the most infections.