80°
71º | 85°
72° | 78°
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo recently lowered the COVID-19 threat level from orange to yellow, which is one step away from the safest level possible.
According to the county's COVID-19 Dashboard, yellow is level 3 which indicates a "moderate" threat level and means residents should "stay vigilant unless fully vaccinated." The lowest level is level 4, which is green and indicates that residents can resume normal activities and contact.
County officials changed the threat level just ahead of the Memorial Day weekend and Judge Hidalgo made a statement hailing the milestone, but urging residents to remain vigilant against the possibility of regressing.
"This is an important and encouraging, but still fragile, milestone in our fight against COVID-19. Our community is doing what it needs to do to move the needle in the right direction, but the threat of stalling or moving backward remains very real," Judge Hidalgo said, ABC 13 News reported. "As we move into Memorial Day weekend, I urge anyone who is not yet vaccinated to take action to protect themselves against this still deadly virus and to avoid gatherings with other unvaccinated individuals. Just as importantly, if you have gotten vaccinated, remind your friends and family to get the vaccine."
To encourage local residents to get the vaccine and speed up recovery, Harris County recently announced that students under age 18 who get the vaccine will be eligible for a chance to win a $5,000 college scholarship through the county's Vaccine Scholarship Program.
"We’re funding college scholarships for students under 18 who get their vaccines with Harris County Public Health," Judge Hidalgo wrote in a June 3 Twitter post. "Your vaccine is your ticket to win $5,000 toward college! We’ll be raffling one scholarship/week for vaccinated students."
Ten scholarships will be awarded to help cover tuition, room-and-board and books to any community college, public college, trade school, vocational school or university in the state of Texas. Residents under the age of 18 who were previously vaccinated at any HCPH vaccination site or will get vaccinated at an HCPH site will be eligible for the scholarship raffle.
Drawings for contest winners will be conducted weekly beginning Thursday, June 10.
"Keep doing what you're doing to help beat this pandemic, Houston," Houston Controller Chris Brown wrote in a May 28 Twitter post.
Harris County health officials have recommended that unvaccinated individuals should continue to wear face masks and practice social distancing.