[Whitfield:] In Texas, coronavirus numbers are trending in the wrong direction on two fronts. On Friday, the state reported more than 7000 new cases for a third consecutive day, bringing the statewide total to more than 185,000. Hospitalizations are also reaching record highs. Joining me right now Dr. Umair Shah. He is the Executive Director for Harris County Public Health in Texas. Dr. Shah, good to see you.
[Dr. Umair Shah, Executive Director, Harris County Public Health:] Thanks for having me, Frederica.
[Whitfield:] So how worried are you that hospitals in crisis mode extend far beyond Harris county?
[Shah:] Well, we are absolutely worried. This is also about increased cases in the community. We obviously have increased testing. We're also seeing increasing hospitalizations but Frederick, the big issue that we're finding is that where we were seeing one out of eight of those tests that were testing positive in the community, now it's one out of four. And that is really the concern because it's not just what's happened to health care system today, it's really the potential for what's happening down the road because of all these increasing cases.
[Whitfield:] So what does that growth tell you because last weekend, I remember reading that it was one out of ten and if now you're at one out of four, what is happening in your area?
[Shah:] What's happening in our area is that we have we've taken our eyes off the ball if you will and we did fight this virus successfully in March and April and May and the numbers show that. Then as the states started to reopen, we started what I call the layering effect of layering on top of all these milestone events and holidays and that's when you get into trouble. And so when people get inconsistent messaging from the federal, state, local level and they start to say, gosh I don't need to wear masks or I don't it's it's not a big deal. That's when you get into trouble and that really causes both complacency and confusion at the individual community member level and I think that's what we're dealing with right now.
[Whitfield:] But you do and everyone there is now witness to the Texas governor Greg Abbott, this week issuing this state wide mandate requiring masks in public after facing growing calls from local officials to do so. Do you believe that that will perhaps you know put a dent in the growth rate?
[Shah:] Right well Fredricka, you have to remember, every time you open something up, it takes a few weeks to see the impact. If you dial something back, it takes a few weeks. All eyes are on really our communities in Texas and it's for the wrong reason and I do think this is the real challenge we have. It's July 4 now. You know all of us should be coming together as Americans to fight this pandemic. It is not just going to go away and this is a time for us to unite to fight and if we don't do that ourselves then we are going to be in this real trouble and so you know the U.S. as you know, we've you know Brazil and other countries were being compared to and we want to be compared to countries like New Zealand and Canada and others that have really started to turn the corner. That's not what's happening in America. That's not what's happening in Texas and certainly that's what really concerns us here locally.
[Whitfield:] Yes, well, usually on big crises the U.S. is in the lead for the better but the rest of the world is not seeing that in this case so let's talk about something else that's happening later on this month in Texas. The Republican Party of that state will hold their state convention in person with an expected attendance in the thousands. The Mayor of Houston says he hopes this will move to a virtual platform. What are your concerns and thoughts?
[Shah:] Well, we hope so too you know, I'm not coming from public health standpoint. Look, politics aside, we have made this a political fight in against this pandemic, whether it's red or blue or whether it's left or right, doesn't matter to us in public health. Whenever you get people together and there are large crowds of people together could be for protests or could be for convention. It does not matter. That's when you start to have an increase in risk and that's why Judge our county judge made it very clear. Look, you don't even need to go out. Stay home. We need to wear masks. We need to do all those things. We also need to focus on wellness and all the other activities to really make sure we're strong but if we don't as leaders, if we don't give the right messages, then at the end of the day people are put at risk and that concerns us.
[Whitfield:] Dr. Umair Shah, thank you so much. Thanks for your time and thanks to everybody who is putting so much on the line to help others. Appreciate it.
[Shah:] Thank you Fredricka.
[Whitfield:] All right and now to the front lines of this pandemic in a different way where CNN's Miguel Marquez takes us inside a Houston hospital.
[Miguel Marquez, Cnn Correspondent:] Houston Texas, now home to a major coronavirus outbreak. A procedure all too common when treating the most seriously ill with the virus. This patient on a ventilator, the breathing tube being replaced to improve oxygen flow to the lungs.
[Unidentified Male:] One, two, three.
[Marquez:] The tube pulled out caked with dried secretions from the lung rife with the coronavirus. The new tube immediately improves oxygen flow.
[Joseph Varon, Chief Medical Officer, United Memorial Medical Center:] That's the first one for the day. So that was we got to change the tube. I need somebody to pass oxygen. He could have died. His tube was malfunctioning. It has a little balloon at the end that was ruptured so he was not getting enough oxygen.
[Marquez:] United Memorial Medical Center serving a 117-bed hospitals, serving a mostly working class community in north Houston. Some things we've seen elsewhere on a ventilator, a patient's chance for survival goes down, way down.
[Varon:] The problem is that once you intubate them, the chances of them leaving the hospital is less than 20 percent.
[Marquez:] Unlike other hospitals we've seen, this facility is transforming itself into a sort of COVID specialty center.
[Varon:] Last three weeks, I have seen more admissions and sicker patients than on the previous 10 weeks so it's been an exponential increase on the severity of illness and the number of cases that we've met.
[Marquez:] Its COVID unit expanding way beyond its intensive care unit by turning the whole sections of the hospital into temporary air tight chambers, creating negative pressure zones to keep the airborne virus moving up and down. And strict protocols are in place for moving in and out of these zones. Everyone must have a test for coronavirus before entering, even journalists and protective gear now so abundant that everyone triples up. Some employees getting through eight sets or more of PPE in a single shift. [on camera]: Now, this is for the people that you are treating so that they know what it would actually look like. [voice-over]: In the 100 days they've been treating patients with coronavirus, only one nurse has developed the sickness. She is now being treated by her own colleagues. You are the frontline worker in the battle against COVID and you now have it.
[Tanna Ingraham, Icu Nurse, United Memorial Medical Center:] Yes. And it's I wouldn't wish this on my own enemy because I hurt from here all the way down, the base of my neck, and it's getting any sleep is almost like it is impossible. [voice-over]: She is not sure how she got it but thinks that may have been a patient who had stopped breathing and despite multiple layers of PPE, the physical effort to save his life may have put her own at risk.
[Ingraham:] I was coding him. And as I was pushing down, air was coming but that's the only position that I could do it with. [voice-over]: The isolation of the disease difficult to deal with even for someone who knows what to expect, her thoughts now with her nine and ten-year-old daughters. What would you say to Madeleine and Abigail right now? Baby, mommy loves you and misses you. I hope you're having a great time in California. OK. I'm done. [voice-over]: The Lone Star State is now in a full-blown surge with coronavirus cases and hospitalizations rising at alarming rates. In Travis County, Austin's convention center is preparing to host a coronavirus emergency care facility. Bear County, home to San Antonio saw a more than 600 percent increase in hospitalizations in June. And in Houston, hospitals are nearing capacity and preparations are underway to turn NRG Park, where the Houston Texans play, back into an emergency medical facility. It was taken down in April.
[Gov. Greg Abbott:] If I could go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars. [voice-over]: Texas now reversing parts of its aggressive effort to reopen its economy. Bars now closed again throughout the state.
[Mohamed Alam, Owner, The Original Red Rooster:] Well, it's been difficult. [voice-over]: Mohamed Alam owns two night clubs in Houston, both now closed until further notice. He is now fighting for his life. How do you think you got COVID?
[Alam:] When the club opened, I have a the thing is they like to give me a hug and everything. So they try to give me hug or shake hand or maybe there was paying the money, counting the money. [voice-over]: Today, United Memorial Medical Center is at about 80 percent capacity.
[Joseph Varon, Chief Medical Officer, United Memorial Medical Center:] Please understand, these patients are very sick. These are patients that are about to die. So we have to admit them. And once they're here, despite of everything we do, I mean, they have to stay in the hospital anywhere between five and ten days at a minimum. So those beds will be occupied for a period of five to ten days. So, sooner or later within the next two weeks, we're going to be at full house. [voice-over]: Dr. Varon, who has now worked for more than 100 days without stop has become a sort of coronavirus specialist. For now, it appears to be paying off, 96 percent of patients admitted to the hospital, he says, beat the disease.
[Varon:] COVID is a very fluid illness. It's an illness that changes. And what I knew four months ago is completely different than what I do now. The way I treated patients two months ago, it's 100 percent different than what I do now. [voice-over]: Does this still surprise you? Does the disease still do things that make you scratch your head? Every single day, I get surprised, every day. [voice-over]: Dr. Varon now aggressively attacking inflammation and blood clotting, using everything, from vitamins, physically rotating patients, antibiotics, hydroxychloroquine for some, even STEM cells soon, anything from having to put patients on a ventilator, the virus still confounding doctors and surprising those trying to avoid getting it. This husband and wife who did not want their names used now share a room in the coronavirus unit here. They say they did everything, staying home, wearing masks, and keeping their distance from others.
[Covid Patient, At United Memorial Medical Center:] It's a little bit scary. I wish that people would take it more seriously. They should take it more seriously. You can't trust people just because they look healthy, because a lot of people are walking around looking healthy and they're not healthy. [voice-over]: It's the biggest challenge those that don't know they have it are giving it to others making them sick and possibly killing them.
[Varon:] In Houston, there are two types of patients, those that have COVID and those who will get COVID. My concern as a healthcare provider is that when they get sick, they all come to me at the same time, which is what's happening at the present time. And that's what's going to kill patients because we won't have enough resources.
[Whitfield:] Oh, my gosh. Well, thank you to the medical personnel and the patients there for not mincing words and showing and telling how painfully real this is. And thank you Miguel Marquez for taking us there. All right, holiday travel during a pandemic, some airlines are selling the middle seats again, but it's not all bad news. The improvement that could speed up your trip, next. Plus, beaches across the country now open as coronavirus cases surge. You're looking live at images from Hampton beach, New Hampshire. Will the holiday celebrations make the pandemic worse?