FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — Fort Bend County is now at its highest risk level for COVID-19 transmission, according to county health officials.
Tuesday morning, the county moved its alert level to red for the virus.
Fort Bend Health and Human Services also announced that all fixed testing sites will close at 1 p.m. today due to the projected heat index.
According to a release on Twitter, appointments are being rescheduled.
County leaders say they are seeing exponential growth of the virus and they are urging residents to stay home as much as possible and follow CDC guidelines on wearing face masks, social distancing and washing hands.
There are more than 5,000 positive cases of coronavirus in Fort Bend County right now, that is more than double the number of cases from just four weeks ago.
SEE ALSO: Fort Bend ISD will begin 2020-2021 academic year online
Hospitals in the county are said to be at initial capacity, and those facilities are now looking at other options to create more hospital bed space.
Meanwhile, the county is also looking at bringing online alternate care facilities to help ease the coronavirus case load.
At this time, we are in the red “high risk” category of #COVID19. This is the highest possible level of risk.
Positive cases in our County & Region are increasing at alarming rates challenging hospital capacity in our region. Full Guidance and Risk Level: https://t.co/Xb62jLZwww pic.twitter.com/3cvs3Lkb8F
— County Judge KP George (@JudgeKPGeorge) July 14, 2020
The county says positive cases are increasing at an alarming rate. They urge everyone to wear face masks, social distance, wash hands and stay at home unless you have to get food or go to work.
RELATED: COVID-19 cases, deaths and recoveries in Fort Bend County
“If you are planning to go out, think about it for a second. ‘Do I need to go outside? Do I fall into a high risk category?'” Fort Bend County Judge KP George asked. “Or let’s say, ‘I am going out and possibly bringing coronavirus, do I have somebody at home that is high risk?'”
Fort Bend officials say they want to avoid a shutdown in the county, adding there are no plans to do that right now. However, if the governor issues a shutdown order, they will have no choice but to close things down again.
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