Governor Greg Abbott hosted a roundtable discussion Thursday, Aug. 6, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Participants included several medical professionals, state legislators and other officials. The topics were COVID-19 and the upcoming flu season.
Abbott stressed the importance of continuing social distancing along with wearing face coverings and avoiding large groups.
“Everyone must understand this very simple principle,” he said. “Until we have medications that are capable of treating COVID-19, the only tool we have to slow its spread is by everybody adopting these practices of wearing masks and maintaining best practices.”
Abbott added that family gatherings and groups of friends getting together continue to be the settings that often lead to the spread of the virus. He explained that there seems to be a sense that if it’s family or friends, gatherings are safe, but that has been proven to be incorrect all over the state.
“There may be this sense that if you’re gathering with family, you really are not going to be transmitting COVID-19 and that has been disproven right here in Dallas County,” Abbott said. “Or you may think that if you’re just with some friends that you typically hang out with that it will not lead to the spread of COVID-19, and again, that has been disproven.”
There are possibilities of spreading COVID-19 in all areas of the state. The governor said that anyone, anywhere has the potential to spread the virus or contract it.
To add insult to injury, flu season usually begins in October and lasts throughout the winner. This year, it could cause major problems for area hospitals.
The discussion also included a warning that if COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations do not decline soon, there is a possibility of overwhelming the hospitals when flu cases are added to the mix.
“You can easily see how hospitals in this region as well as across Texas will be completely overrun with an inability for the hospitals to take care of the medical needs of everybody in the entire region,” Abbott said.
The doctors who participated in the roundtable stressed that the need for a flu shot this year is magnified.
Additionally, neighborhoods with large numbers of people of color will be encouraged to get flu shots as COVID-19 has heavily affected people of color.