Hidalgo raises county COVID-19 level to Red 'due to severe and uncontrolled spread in Harris County'

On Aug. 5, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo placed the county under the highest COVID-19 threat in response to surging numbers of coronavirus cases.

ABC 13 News reports that Harris County is now under Red "Severe" status, which is the highest threat level and advises unvaccinated people to stay home except for essential reasons, such as grocery shopping.

"I’ve ordered our COVID19 threat level to be moved to Red due to severe and uncontrolled spread in Harris County," Judge Hidalgo wrote in an Aug. 5 Twitter post. "If you’re unvaccinated please stay home. Everyone please continue to wear a mask in public."

According to the Harris County Department of Public Health, threat level Red is a Level 1 warning reserved for "a severe and uncontrolled level of COVID-19 in Harris County, meaning outbreaks are present and worsening and public health capacity is strained or exceeded."

Dr. David Persse, chief medical officer for the City of Houston was also present at the press conference when Hidalgo made her announcement and urged those who are still unvaccinated to get the vaccine.

"We're seeing a huge increase in the viral activity in the community to the point where if you're currently unvaccinated, you need to consider that you represent a potential danger to yourself and others, and most particularly your own family, because we have found that those who get infected are most often infected by another family member," Persse said, according to ABC 13 News.

Adding to the urgency of the situation, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the chief medical advisor to the president, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has said that there is a chance that another variant strain of the virus could crop up.

"If another one comes along that has an equally high capability of transmitting but also is much more severe, then we really could be in trouble," Fauci said, ABC 13 News reported.

The surge in cases is due to the delta variant which has shown to be even more contagious than the original strain of the COVID-19 virus.

Some hospital emergency rooms are operating at full capacity as the delta variant surges throughout the community.