Here are things to know for Tuesday, August 24:
1. Houston-area army veteran says his brother was killed by the Taliban, pleads for help to rescue the rest of his family in Afghanistan
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A Houston-area Army veteran, who also worked as an interpreter for the United States military in Afghanistan, is desperately seeking help to rescue his family in the wake of the country’s takeover by the Taliban.
Ahmad Sayed said the Taliban recently captured and killed his brother and he doesn’t want anyone else to die.
“They videotaped how they killed my brother. They tortured him. They ripped the skin off his body. All of his feet were broken, his head was broken, ribs were broken. They shot him in the stomach many times,” Sayed said tearfully in an interview with KPRC 2.
He said the Taliban sent his brother’s body back with a message.
2. Have you seen her? Woman who doused man with substance, lit him on fire in Humble arson assault identified, police say
A 19-year-old woman is charged with murder after ruled a house fire that left one dead and another injured as intentional.
The incident happened around 10 p.m. Aug. 6 at a home on Aspen Glade Drive near Northpark Drive, authorities said.
In their initial reports, authorities said they found two badly burned victims outside the home and were investigating the cause of the fire.
After further investigation, authorities said they learned the fire was intentionally set by a woman identified as 19-year-old Emma Presler.
Police said the victims, 33-year-old Devin Graham and 26-year-old Karissa Lindros were inside the home when Presler went inside, poured an unknown flammable substance on Graham and lit him on fire.
3. Desperate Texas doctors turn to antibody treatments to slow down surging COVID-19 hospitalizations
What surprised Texas retiree Kathy Hardman most was not that she got COVID-19 five months after being fully vaccinated.
And it was not even that she qualified to receive an increasingly popular — yet still largely unfamiliar — experimental treatment that had been prescribed to some of the most powerful people in the country.
What shocked the 66-year-old grandmother of four was that the monoclonal antibody infusion therapy, estimated to decrease chances of hospitalization by up to 70%, was available to her at her hometown hospital in Mount Pleasant, a community of 15,000 in rural Northeast Texas.
4. Memorial Hermann closes 3 Houston area emergency rooms due to surge of COVID-19 cases
Memorial Hermann has closed three of its Houston area emergency rooms due to the surge of COVID-19 cases and its impact on its system operations.
The hospital is closing the following 24-hour emergency rooms inside the Convenient Care Centers as of Monday at 5 p.m., until further notice:
- Memorial Hermann Convenient Care Center in Kingwood, located at 4533 Kingwood Drive
- Memorial Hermann Convenient Care Center in Spring, located at 7474 N Grand Parkway W
- Memorial Hermann Convenient Care Center at Sienna, located at 8780 Hwy 6 Ste B
5. Hospital bed shortage continues as Houston area sets record for number of daily new positive COVID-19 cases
The unprecedented hospital bed shortage continues across Southeast Texas as the Houston area sets a record for the number of new daily COVID-19 positive cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Sunday, through the day, and Sunday through the night, we had a very rough sharp turn upwards so we are dealing once again with some record numbers,” said Executive V.P. of Houston Methodist, Roberta Schwartz.
According to data reported by the Texas Medical Center, on Sunday, 9,217 people tested positive for COVID in the Greater Houston area. TMC admitted 365 new COVID-19 patients. There are currently 2,650 COVID-19 positive patients in hospitals.
As of Monday afternoon, about 850 of those patients were at Houston Methodist hospitals.