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Mayor Turner update: Houston nears 100K COVID-19 cases

The mayor says people need to take the virus seriously because the numbers are on the rise.

HOUSTON — Mayor Sylvester Turner on Thursday provided an update on COVID-19 in the city, reporting 137 new COVID-19 cases.

As of Thursday, Houston has 99,396 total COVID-19 cases. Mayor Turner also reported three new deaths in the city.

Mayor Turner encouraged those who gathered for Thanksgiving to get tested for COVID-19 and continue wearing a mask. He asked businesses -- specifically bars functioning as restaurants -- to bring down crowd sizes and again mentioned the possibility of a curfew.

Dr. David Persse with the Houston Health Department  said the slope of hospitalizations in Houston started to move up before Thanksgiving and is continuing to go up.

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said 133 HPD employees in quarantine. He said there are 90 positive cases with 43 pending results and a total of 681 members of HPD who have had COVID-19.

On Wednesday, Texas' Department of State Health Services said large cities with big medical centers and lots of health care workers will likely receive the bulk of the 1.4 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine coming to the state.

RELATED: Houston's Medical Center likely to receive large portion of first round of COVID-19 vaccines

DSHS Commissioner Dr. John Hellerstedt approved recommendations from the Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel (EVAP) that health care workers likely to provide direct care for COVID-19 patients and other vulnerable residents should be the first group to receive the vaccine. This includes staff at hospitals and long-term care facilities, emergency medical services and home health care workers.

This week, that panel is finalizing recommendations for which cities should get priority, according to DSHS. Dr. Hellerstedt will have the final approval, then request shipments from the CDC.

“We want to make sure we’re making it available to those people who need it the most," said Chris Van Deusen, Director of Media Relations for DSHS. “We want to get it as widely across Texas as we can, getting it to the places that can do the most good.”

Also on Wednesday, the city of Houston unanimously approved a program for one-time $1,200 payments for Houstonians who are struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

RELATED: Houston approves program that will give some residents $1,200 in COVID-19 relief

That payment, which will be from funds from the CARES Act, will be for up to 23,750 Houstonians who have been badly affected by the virus.

The direct assistance program is budgeted at $30 million and will be administered by Baker Ripley.

To receive the funds, there are eligibility requirements and the system is not first come, first served.

Mayor Turner also announced executive level and administrative personnel changes at the press conference. Mayor Turner said city attorney Ron Lewis is leaving the city for another opportunity, and Arturo Michel will step into the role in January. Mayor Turner also said solid waste chief Harry Hayes is retiring, and Carolyn Wright will take over the role on an interim basis.

Additionally, Mayor Turner said Victor Ayers, director of the city's fleet management, is retiring after serving the city for 27 years. Mayor Turner also tapped Kenneth Allen to lead the city's parks and recreation department.

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