CORONAVIRUS CREEPS CLOSER: HOUSTON, NOW MONTERREY

After confirming the first case of coronavirus in Nuevo León, the Secretary of Health in the State, Manuel de la O Cavazos, reported that the patient is at home and isolated.

At a press conference, the state official said that this is a man who traveled to Europe on February 24 and returned to the city on March 3 and presented symptoms the following day, so he went to a private hospital to perform the Covid-19 test, which was positive and was reconfirmed with a second one.

De la O Cavazos said that the patient is in good health and will remain isolated for 14 days, and also stated that this person had contact with 8 others, which are already under medical observation.
Meanwhile, the Texas Tribune reports that  a case in Montgomery County raises questions about the number of unknown infections in Texas, given that government testing capacity for the COVID-19 disease remains limited. The largest public health lab in Texas is able to conduct a maximum of just 26 tests per day. It's unclear how many tests a state network of 10 laboratories has conducted so far, but that figure is likely in the "dozens" as of Wednesday, Texas Department of State Health Services spokesman Chris Van Deusen said.

Local officials said they were taking the threat of community spread seriously, and Houston leaders announced Wednesday they were calling off the remainder of the week-long rodeo event. Houston officials later said the man, who is in his 40s, attended a Feb. 28 barbecue at the city’s biggest annual event, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. But it's unclear if he had symptoms at the time he attended.

Public health workers have been monitoring dozens of Montgomery County residents, officials said, and Montgomery Independent School District will cancel classes beginning Thursday, ahead of spring break.

Asked how the Montgomery County man might have contracted the virus, Melissa Miller said the case was still under investigation but that he had not traveled outside of Texas. “At this time, I don’t have an answer to that question,” Miller, the chief operating officer of the Montgomery County Hospital District, told reporters. “Anything is possible.”

Gerald Parker, associate dean for Global One Health at Texas A&M University, said confirmation of community spread would put Texas at an "inflection point."

"Things that we can do as individuals to avoid exposure and avoid exposing others is still just as important a message as it was yesterday," he said. "But it will also mean that we need to think more seriously about what are some of those social-distancing measures and community mitigation measures as well."