Here are things you need to know for Wednesday, July 15:
1. Texas hospitals are running out of drugs, beds, ventilators and even staff
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As the tally of coronavirus infections climbs higher each day, Texas hospitals are taking extraordinary steps to make space for a surge of patients. Some facilities in South Texas say they are dangerously close to filling up, while hospitals elsewhere are taking precautionary measures to keep their numbers manageable.
2. Army deploys medical unit to Houston in help to fight COVID-19
The U.S. Army came to Houston Tuesday to prepare for the opening of a new COVID-19 wing at the United Memorial Medical Center, which is staffed entirely by Army personnel.
The unit will backup the overworked hospital staff. The hospital is currently treating about 40 COVID-19 patients and has another 20 beds available, but not enough doctors and nurses to man them.
3. First COVID-19 vaccine tested in US poised for final testing
The first COVID-19 vaccine tested in the U.S. revved up people’s immune systems just the way scientists had hoped, researchers reported Tuesday -- as the shots are poised to begin key final testing.
The experimental vaccine, developed by Fauci’s colleagues at the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., will start its most important step around July 27: A 30,000-person study to prove if the shots really are strong enough to protect against the coronavirus.
4. Vanessa Guillen’s family to have private meeting with President Trump, attorney says
The family of Houston-native Vanessa Guillen, the Fort Hood soldier whose remains were found near the Leon River months after she went missing, will meet with President Donald Trump.
The meeting will be on July 29 in Washington D.C., which is come one day before the “#IAmVanessaGuillen” bill will be introduced to Congress.
5. Texas will extend time that schools will be allowed to stay online-only, Gov. Greg Abbott says
Texas will give school districts more flexibility to keep their school buildings closed to in-person instruction this fall as coronavirus cases continue to rise, Gov. Greg Abbott told a Houston television station Tuesday.
Public health guidance released last week indicated that school districts had to stay virtual for up to three weeks after their start dates, so they could get their safety protocols ironed out before bringing more students to campus. If they stayed closed longer than that, they would lose state funding.
Abbott on Tuesday said that time would be extended.
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WORD OF THE DAY
Wergild [wur-gild, wer-] (noun) (in Anglo-Saxon England and other Germanic countries) 1. money paid to the relatives of a murder victim in compensation for loss and to prevent a blood feud; 2. the amount of money fixed as compensation for the murder or disablement of a person, computed on the basis of rank.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
July 15, 2006: The San Francisco-based podcasting company Odeo officially releases Twttr - later changed to Twitter - its short messaging service (SMS) for groups, to the public.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“They do not love that do not show their love.” - William Shakespeare