Tag Archives: Houston Department of Health and Human Services

Food Not Bombs gets temporary ticketing reprieve

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Pending a ruling from the judge, so this could be very temporary or it could be for the duration of the lawsuit. A U.S. District Court judge on Wednesday ordered Houston to temporarily stop enforcing a law that requires city … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Food Not Bombs sues the city again

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see how it goes. Food Not Bombs, a group of volunteers who serve meals outside Houston Public Library’s downtown branch, filed suit Tuesday against the city, alleging that a food-sharing ordinance is unconstitutional. The suit claims that the city’s … Continue reading →

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Houston to fund database to track gun violence

Posted on September 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a good thing. A data project to track gun injuries will receive city funding as trauma centers across Houston saw a steady increase in firearm injury victims in recent years, but lacked a systematic way to report the … Continue reading →

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Our wastewater COVID tracking is a big deal

Posted on July 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Nice to be recognized as a leading innovator. The practice of using plumbing to track and prevent disease isn’t new. A series of cholera outbreaks in the mid and late 1800s prompted many cities, including London, Boston, and Chicago to install sewer systems in … Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Please get an mpox vaccine if you are at risk

Posted on June 13, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s avoid a summer surge. On the heels of a cluster of new mpox infections in Chicago this month, the CDC is urging at-risk populations to get fully vaccinated. One year ago Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control released its … Continue reading →

Posted in National news | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Monkeypox case rate slows

Posted on September 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news. Monkeypox infection rates are slowing in Houston, data shows, with health officials pointing to changing behavior as the key reason for the decline. The 14-day average of daily new cases dropped by 43 percent, from .23 cases … Continue reading →

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Houston will monitor for monkeypox in the wastewater

Posted on August 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like a good idea. Houston will begin monitoring its wastewater for monkeypox in late August as cases of the blister-causing contagion continue to climb, health officials said. Scientists will begin testing for the monkeypox virus in city sewage samples “starting in about three … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Here comes BA.2 in Houston

Posted on April 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

But don’t panic, it’s just a change in the virus composition, not an increase in viral load. Houston is seeing an uptick in the number of BA.2 cases, with genome sequencing and wastewater testing picking up higher levels this week compared to … Continue reading →

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The wastewater is once again in our favor

Posted on February 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

But there’s still a lot of room for improvement. The latest samples of Houston’s flushed wastewater show diminishing traces of COVID-19 across the region — a promising sign that the highly contagious omicron variant is in retreat. Hospital admissions are … Continue reading →

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Yes, the wastewater is also pointing to a COVID surge

Posted on August 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

In case you were wondering. There is more COVID-19 in the city’s wastewater system now than at any time in the pandemic, city officials said Wednesday, the latest warning that the virus is spreading at an unprecedented rate. Dr. David … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Please get your second shot

Posted on May 11, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I hope this is mostly a function of incomplete data. Millions of Americans — including tens of thousands of Houstonians — either have delayed or are forgoing their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccination. As of late last month, roughly … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The second shot portal

Posted on February 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

People are going to need this, too. Houston officials plan to launch a website this week that will let people schedule appointments for their second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Health Director Stephen Williams on Monday said officials plan to … Continue reading →

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There is a website for COVID vaccine signups in Houston

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

You can’t use it right now, but it’s there. Houston’s Health Department launched an online portal for residents to apply for an appointment at its COVID-19 vaccine clinic Monday but quickly ran out of available slots for the remainder of … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

More people in Houston than you think have had COVID

Posted on December 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

About one in seven, which is an awful lot. Nearly 1 in 7 Houstonians have been infected with the coronavirus, city officials announced Monday, the infection’s true prevalence according to a study of antibodies in blood samples taken from people … Continue reading →

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It’s still not too late to prevent a big spike in COVID infections

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

But it will be soon. A rise in COVID-19 cases has health care officials and government leaders pleading with Houstonians: Act now to prevent, or at least minimize, a third wave of infections across Greater Houston. “This feels a lot … Continue reading →

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GOP sues over cancelled convention

Posted on July 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

As the night follows the day. The Texas Republican Party on Thursday sued Mayor Sylvester Turner and Houston First Corp. for canceling the party’s in-person convention that was scheduled for next week in downtown Houston. The lawsuit, filed in Harris … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

City cancels Republican convention

Posted on July 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Game on. Mayor Sylvester Turner announced on Wednesday that the city has canceled the Texas Republican Party’s in-person state convention in downtown Houston next week. Houston First, the public nonprofit that serves as the city’s convention arm, sent a letter … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

GOP declines Turner’s invitation to cancel their convention

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The ball is back in your court, Mr. Mayor. The Texas Republican Party is proceeding with an in-person convention next week in downtown Houston, a rejection of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s formal request Monday to move the event online amid a … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Mayor Turner asks GOP to not hold its convention

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck with that. The city of Houston will deploy health inspectors to enforce COVID-19 restrictions at the Texas Republican Convention, and potentially shut down the event if guidelines aren’t followed, Mayor Sylvester Turner said Monday. In a letter to … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Can we make it past July?

Posted on June 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That’s when it looks like we’ll hit the peak of the pandemic here. And it could be ugly. A surge in COVID-19 cases since Memorial Day could set the Houston area on track for a peak of 2,000 daily hospitalizations … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The reopening metric we should be heeding

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Twitter: This graph is amazing. It shows that measuring #SARSCoV2 levels in municipal sewage almost perfectly predicts forthcoming #COVID19 cases with a full week’s notice (R=0.994). It’s one of several discoveries in this new study from @Yale: https://medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.19.20105999v1.full.pdf. C-19 … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

From the “Shit happens” department

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I apologize, I couldn’t help myself. City health officials and Rice University scientists have begun testing Houston wastewater samples for COVID-19, a process they hope will reveal the true spread of the new coronavirus as clinical testing continues to lag. … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Last minute health insurance enrollment help

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS) will open four of its multi-service centers on Sunday and extend their business hours next Monday to help people sign up for a health insurance plan by the Affordable … Continue reading →

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