SEN. KOLKHORST HOLDS TWO-DAY COVID-19 HEARING
With the 87th Texas Legislature preparing to meet in January, State Senator Lois Kolkhorst, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, conducted the state’s first public hearings on COVID-19 over the past two days.
(courtesy Office of Lois Kolkhorst)
On Monday, the committee examined the procedures for how the state collects, models, and reports data on COVID-19 tests, cases, hospitalizations, and fatalities.
Senators heard from Dr. John Hellerstedt, Commissioner of the Department of State Health Services, and Dr. James McCarthy, Physician in Chief at Memorial Hermann Health System, among others on issues such as clinical best practices, including therapeutics for treating patients at all stages of COVID-19. The committee also received status updates on vaccine development and distribution.
The committee spent Tuesday looking into the ways Texans have been impacted by the pandemic response. Lawmakers evaluated the results of the COVID-19 response on behavioral health, child abuse, family violence, long-term care residents, and delayed medical care.
Kolkhorst said the impact and response to COVID-19 has been “the most disruptive public health event in our lifetime.” She said, as with any other disaster, the legislature should “provide clear, consistent information, and provide reliable solutions.” In addition, she said the state must “separate the panic from the pandemic and not legislate from a point of fear or misunderstanding.”
Kolkhorst expects the first phase of vaccine distributions to occur this month and in early January, where healthcare workers, along with nursing facility staff and residents, will receive the first distributions.