North Texas’ short-staffed hospitals could be getting a small reprieve in the next week with the help of roughly 1,000 state-supplied traveling nurses. While the addition of supplemental staff from the state will help North Texas hospitals, 1,000 nurses likely won’t be enough to make up for shortages across the North Texas trauma service area, which encompasses 19 counties. “It’s going to be very helpful, and we’re very appreciative, but it’s not going to be enough to solve the entire staffing problem,” said Steve Love, president and CEO of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council. “Our number one concern is staffing,…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
The omicron coronavirus variant is forcing health experts and the public alike to question everything they thought they knew about COVID-19, including how to properly take at-home rapid tests to ensure an accurate result. All rapid tests authorized for emergency use in the U.S. require a sturdy swab of your nasal cavity, though not deep enough to tickle your brain like early PCR tests. However, a growing body of anecdotal evidence suggests you may want to throw in a throat sample, too. “Symptoms are starting very early with omicron. This means that there is a chance the virus isn’t yet…
After serving Wilshire Baptist Church for almost 33 years, Senior Pastor George Mason announced he will retire this year. Known as a bridge-builder who sought to heal divisions and bring people together for the common good, Mason is the longest serving pastor in the church’s 70-year history. “My retirement is from the senior pastor role, but not from the ministry,” Mason said. Mason was born in New York and attended college at the University of Miami where he obtained a degree in business administration. He was ordained in 1984, and later received a master of divinity and a Ph.D from…
The spread of the COVID-19 omicron variant is causing shortages of medical staff in some Dallas area community clinics, impacting the care for patients infected with the virus. A West Dallas clinic says patient wait times have increased, while a clinic in Old East Dallas has stopped seeing patients in person, instead offering only video or phone consultations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the omicron variant accounts for about 95% of all new cases in the country. Sharon Davis, medical director at Los Barrios Unidos, a community clinic in West Dallas that serves about 500 patients every week, said that a…
Dallas and Tarrant counties each reported more than 6,000 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, strikingly high totals that appear to reflect the rapid spread of the virus’ omicron variant in North Texas. The 6,310 new cases reported in Dallas County is the highest single-day total for the county since the pandemic began. County Judge Clay Jenkins noted that the number doesn’t include at-home COVID-19 tests, which have become increasingly popular as the omicron variant spreads. Referring to a UT Southwestern Medical Center projection that shows coronavirus hospitalizations potentially reaching record levels in North Texas in the coming weeks, Jenkins said in…
As the highly transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19 tightens its hold on the country, health experts are urging the public to be more selective in their choice of face masks. Single-layer cloth masks, which have been popular throughout the pandemic, don’t cut it against the new variant, experts say. Here’s what you need to know. When should you wear a mask? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that in places with high levels of community spread, everyone — regardless of vaccination status — wear a face mask in indoor public areas. As of Jan. 6, 97% of counties…
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — More than a year since the death of 2-year-old Maliyah Bass, court documents show her mother pleaded guilty for her involvement in the case. On Wednesday, Sahara Ervin pleaded guilty to the charges of tampering with evidence – a human corpse and injury to a child, according to court records. As part of the guilty plea, Ervin will also have to help in the case against her boyfriend, Trevion Thompson, who is also charged in connection with Maliyah’s death. On Aug. 22, 2020, an Amber Alert was issued for the toddler who had not been seen…
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — Hundreds of Harris County Jail inmates were taken to Louisiana Thursday as the sheriff tries to make sure Texas regulations can be followed at the building. In November, state jail inspectors found the Harris County jail in violation of state standards and noted a tense and hostile environment inside the jail. It came days after a jail staffer was allegedly brutally sexually assaulted by an inmate inside her jail office. reported other assaults inside the jail around the same time. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards ordered Sheriff Ed Gonzalez to come up with a…
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Two years ago, the shutdown of RodeoHouston signaled the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rodeo’s return this year is something that health experts said could signal the end of the pandemic. LARGE SCALE EVENTS RETURN NEXT MONTH DESPITE RISING CASES Next month, two large-scale events that haven’t taken place during the pandemic return to the Houston area. RodeoHouston and Mardi Gras in Galveston return in February. Right now, there’s a surge of COVID cases, and hospitalizations. Texas is reporting case numbers the state has never experienced. Despite this, Houston Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Persse…
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The USFL, the Houston Gamblers and the team’s new head coach, who was announced Thursday, all share two “R” words: rebirth and redemption. Kevin Sumlin, whose meteoric rise in college football while coaching the University of Houston and Texas A&M programs can only be matched by the embarrassment of a 70-7 blowout loss in his last collegiate level game at Arizona, has been tapped to coach the Gamblers. The 57-year-old Sumlin returns to coach a team with Houston in its name some three months out from the league’s April return to the national stage. Sumlin last…
