More mobile testing to pop up in Harris County, Judge Lina Hidalgo says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced that supplies from its fixed testing sites will soon be moving to areas in the county that are lacking COVID-19 testing access.

During a briefing on the county's coronavirus response efforts on Tuesday, Hidalgo said over the next couple of days, officials will be working get these mobile testing sites up and running.

"We can have an especially large impact," said Hidalgo. "The road to normalcy is squarely through testing."

The county is reporting 146 new cases and added one more death to its toll.

"Every death is so difficult for us to process recognizing they all could've been prevented," said Hidalgo. "But we are doing as well, if not better, than every other big city, big county in America."

The judge said Harris County has not reached its peak during this pandemic. She adds that the county has more than doubled its testing capacity in the last week.

"This is what we need," she said.

On Monday, Hidalgo named State Rep. Armando Walle the Harris County recovery czar. He was chosen to help guide the county through the fight against coronavirus.

She and Mayor Turner worked together to establish the two relief and recovery czars for the area. The goal is to make sure the relief and recovery is inclusive, fast, and coordinated.

"It will take years to fully recover from this. It will take talent, it will take creativity, but luckily we have that in Harris County," Hidalgo said.

She said it's important for recovery to be inclusive and cover underrepresented groups, including undocumented immigrants in Harris County.

"We must be laser focused and ready to get the most funds into this community as quickly as possible," Hidalgo stressed.

Hidalgo reminded the public that just because they named a czar doesn't mean the crisis is over.