XPost: tx.general   
   From: BiteMe@Bitch.org   
      
   Texas is second-worst in the nation for COVID-19 testing   
      
      
      
   A Houston Chronicle analysis of testing data collected through Wednesday   
   shows that Texas has the second-worst rate of testing per capita in the   
   nation, with only 332 tests conducted for every 100,000 people. Only   
   Kansas ranks lower, at 327 per 100,000 people.   
      
   In cities across Texas — from Houston to Dallas, San Antonio to   
   Nacogdoches — testing continues to be fraught with missteps, delays and   
   shortages, resulting in what many predict will ultimately be a   
   significant undercount. Not fully knowing who has or had the disease   
   both skews public health data and also hampers treatment and prevention   
   strategies, potentially leading to a higher death count, health care   
   experts say.   
      
   In Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city, officials worry that   
   because the number of confirmed cases is lower than other major U.S.   
   cities, the situation here may seem less serious. The federal government   
   announced plans to cut 25 percent of its funding to help administer the   
   city’s two testing sites and relocate six federal public health workers   
   who help manage the sites.   
      
   Dr. David Persse, Health Authority for the Houston Health Department,   
   protested the decision as a “monumental step backwards,” in a letter   
   this week to Erica Schwartz, deputy U.S. surgeon general. On Thursday,   
   the federal government agreed to extend funding for both the city and   
   county testing sites through May 30.   
      
   The total testing volume for all four Houston-area sites, two run by   
   city and two run by the county, has been capped at 1,000 people per day   
   until Saturday, when federal officials pledged to double that capacity.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)