@redneckroy : I opposed all of those things just like I oppose what's going on now. The shutdown slowed nothing.

@rabbit8 : All available data indicates otherwise - so I guess we can agree to disagree.Several things were accomplished by the initial shutdown: - testing kits & testing - we had none in March
- Hospital room availability - only NY was over-run - people dying while waiting for rooms was deferred
- Equipment availability - shortages were averted widely
- Treatment - although still a terrible illness - the treatments are continuing to improve - every day a person can delay getting sick gets them a better chance of a more knowledgeable treatment
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@redneckroy : Uh huh.

@rabbit8 : All that the "shutdown" did in regards to "slowing the virus", was to give a false sense that the virus was slowing, period. Once testing became widely available, we discovered those that were infected that otherwise did not know they were.
One has had the virus, have the virus now, or will get the virus. God Bless to all of you (and me) trying hard not to get it, but it is not going away. But have hope that the virus is weakening itself, as has been theorized.

@sandman : been there done that!!! My husband was raised in Seminole, TX, his dad the mayor at one time and mother was a teacher there for over 40 years.

@ParksideRes : There are a lot of people in the hospital. Probably always like that. Only a little over 2,000 in the hospital have Covid. Notice we are in Trauma Q section and the map shows what makes up Trauma Q. Did the 2,139 who tested positive for Covid come into the hospital because they are sick with Covid or did they test positive for Covid but came in for other reasons? That would be an interesting break-down.
There are 2,049 beds still available in our area. There are 162 ICU beds available in our area. You can also see there are over 13,000 staffed hospital beds in total. Therefore, it would seem that there are a lot of hospital beds being held by non Covid patients.

I too have questions regarding our response to Covid. In the beginning, I understood that it was a big unknown and what we were seeing coming out of other countries was concerning. We did not want to overwhelm our healthcare system. But, being a numbers person, the numbers aren't matching with our continued response in Texas.
1. Deaths: 2017-2018 Texas Flu/Pneumonia - 11,917 (54:0-4yrs, 25:5-17yrs)(Our Region - 2,757)(Mortality Rate - 40.58/100,000)
2018-2019 Texas Flu/Pneumonia - 10,020 (42:0-4yrs, 40:5-17yrs)(Our Region - 2,375)(Mortality Rate - 33.46/100,000)
2019-2020 Texas Flu/Pneumonia (Sept. 29, 2019 - Feb. 29,2020) - 2,650 (8:0-4yrs, 13:5-17yrs) (Our Region - 593)(Mortality Rate - 8.85/100,000)
2020 Texas Covid-19 (March 1, 2020 - July 1, 2020) - 2,481 (Greater Houston Area - 617)I only posted the first 5 months of this season's flu data so that it would have a similar timeline as Covid-19 and no crossover data. The actual deaths attributed to flu/pneumonia (Sep. 29, 2019 - June 16, 2020) this year are 8,559. Why didn't we respond to the past flu season's like we're responding to Covid? The data is very similar. Why aren't we afraid of the flu when the data shows that it kills as many, if not more, of our parents and grandparents? Why did we choose to not start caring until now? I'm guessing that the 70+ parents who had to bury their children wish we had social distanced for them. Data from Texas Department of State Health Services.2. Contagion level: How do we know that the flu isn't just as contagious? Only people who are sick get tested and, even then, many who are sick never get tested. None of us would go get tested just because we were in the same room with someone who had the flu. If you don't think the flu is highly contagious, then spend one flu season in a school classroom. All teachers know that as soon as you have your first case the rest will be dropping like flies. This happens every single flu season, some worse then others, but we still continue to educate our kids. We may close for two to three days, but we have never set our kids back as far as we have now. Sadly, there are some kids who may never recover from what they have lost. Especially at the elementary level and in areas that traditionally have educational struggles.With that being said, if we were to test the flu the same as we are testing Covid would we find a lot of asymptomatic cases? Would we find that the flu is as/more contagious than COVID? Keep in mind that all these flu numbers are with a vaccine. What would the flu numbers be without a vaccine and with Covid-level testing?This is a virus. It's behaving just like a virus. It will continue to spread as long as there are host available. We have to learn to live with it. Whether you agree with masks or not, whether you're conservative or liberal, PLEASE just put on a mask so that the numbers will come down and we can get back to our "normal" lives. I seriously need college football and Astros baseball!

@ParksideRes : I am not looking just at death count. BUT.....of those getting Covid and dying from Covid is what all of us are looking at. What are the chances of me dying if I get Covid? How many people my age die of Covid? If you are just looking at how many test positive and not how many die then what's the point of even looking?
Which matters most, how many games your team played or how many they won? In the end if they did not win enough they won't go on to play for the championship. Even the score in each game doesn't matter much. Won by 50 points or won by 1 point. In the end you won.
So doesn't matter how many test positive, only how many died in the end. That is not a fallacy but just a fact.

@JustSayn : we need to keep it that way. It's a losing strategy to change ways when capacity is reached.
Also area Q is more than Harris county. Currently there is no room at Harris Health hospitals and they are shipping to Woodlands, Galveston, etc. That's taking away their capacity too.Do you only worry about flooding when it gets in your house? Or do you start planning when you see the rain isn't stopping?The infection rate is on exponential growth, check these numbers this time in 2 weeks.

@JustSayn : we're also learning those who are very sick and easily survive are in fact not ok. Some very serious permanent lung damage in a lot of people that were healthy. Even those that didn't feel anything are finding lung damage from it. They got used to the gradual loss of oxygen saturation.

Here is the link. txdshs.maps.arcgis.c om/apps/opsdashboard /index.html#/0d8bdf9 be927459d9cb11b
You can go see what area Q is. It does include the Woodlands and Huntsville. You can also see how many beds are in total for all of Texas. A populated area is always going to get hit harder than a rural one. The thing is there are going to be enough beds in Texas. So what if they get sent to a different hospital, there is still plenty of places to get a hospital bed. Some hospitals in some states are probably full of gun shooting victims and might have to send their Covid patients to that other hospital across town.

@ParksideRes : Yep, and seems like the same people who are dying from Covid are the same ones that will have long terms effects if they survive."Not everyone who beats COVID-19 has the same risk of experiencing long-term consequences from the SARS-CoV-2 infection.Those most at risk are "people 65 years and older, people who live in a nursing home or long-term care facility, people with chronic lung, heart, kidney and liver disease," said Dr. Gary Weinstein, pulmonologist/critical care medicine specialist at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas (Texas Health Dallas)."

@tinytim : Exactly , thank you .

@Clydepuckett : No. Dickey's should be shut down, pandemic or no pandemic. Right there with Spring Creek! Or at least change their name, because what they serve is not BBQ. Should change it to 'meat'. Dickey's Cooked Meat.

@Clydepuckett : Where in my post did I say to shut down. I said we shut down because we have ********s that can't follow simple instructions.There are just nasty people out there.So you are telling me that the hospitals are making more or Covid 19 patients than surgeries Um ok.