Katy Responds

Harris County Covid-19 Relief Fund

The Harris County COVID-19 Relief Fund will open its online and phone application process for financial assistance to eligible Harris County residents on June 23 and June 24.

In May, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Commissioners Court approved the creation of the $30 million COVID-19 Relief Fund to be distributed to an estimated 20,000 households that are among the hardest hit financially by the pandemic, and are ineligible or cannot afford to wait for other assistance. Selected households will receive between an estimated $1,200 and $1,500.

The online application will open on HarrisCountyRelief.org on Tuesday, June 23 at 6 AM and close on Wednesday, June 24 at 10 PM. You can also apply over the phone by calling the COVID-19 Relief Fund’s phone center at (832) 848-0214. The phone center will be receiving calls from applicants on June 23 from 6 AM to 2 PM and June 24 from 2 PM to 10 PM. The online and phone application will be available in a variety of languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, French, Farsi, Hindi, Urdu, Tagalog, Korean, and Vietnamese.

Applications are not first-come, first-served. Instead, awardees will be selected through a randomized selection process from among the applicants.

To be eligible for funds, applicants must live in Harris County and meet certain household income and public benefits criteria. The fund is open to immigrant households. Given the enormous need, the fund is likely to receive more applications than funding available. To ensure the funds are reaching those most deeply impacted and vulnerable in our communities, the selection process will prioritize residents in Harris County’s most vulnerable census tracts.

For more information on the COVID-19 Relief Fund application, eligibility criteria, and the selection process, please visit HarrisCountyRelief.org. Those in need of immediate assistance are encouraged to call 211 Texas/United Way helpline to find an organization in your geographic region that can serve you.

Sincerely,

The Harris County Judge’s Office

Covid-19 Testing Site at Seven Lakes

Beginning Monday, 5/11/2020, the Fort Bend County Health and Human Services Department will begin setting up a new COVID-19 testing site at Seven Lakes High School (SLHS).

Fort Bend County has been working with local entities to establish another no cost COVID-19 drive-thru testing site across the region to make it easier for residents to get tested.

Though the testing site will be located in the SLHS parking lot near the Competition Gym, it is not under Katy ISD management. It will be managed and run by Access Health.

Please check their website for more information or to register to be tested.

Together we are stronger!

Covid-19 Testing in Fort Bend

ACCESS HEALTH

In partnership with Fort Bend County, Access Health is providing free COVID-19 testing for those with symptoms. To be tested, follow the steps below:

1. Complete online screen: visit https://www.checkforcorona.com/fort-bend-county#/welcome and complete online screening. Once you have gone through the online screening process, and deemed as “at risk”, you will receive a unique code and a phone number to call.

2. Complete phone consultation: call the phone number for further screening. If the health care professional authorizes testing, you will receive new testing site access code and further instructions.

3. Proceed to testing facility: proceed to testing facility at your scheduled time. Be sure to bring your photo ID and other information as requested by your screener. You will only be admitted to the drive-through site if you have the testing access code received from the healthcare professional.

FEMA Funded Testing Sites

The test sites in City of Houston and Harris County (which are open to FBC residents) are funded by FEMA – they are for first responders, health care workers, and people with underlying health conditions. To be tested at one of these sites, use this screening tool (http://www.checkforcorona.com) or call 832-393-4220.

• Butler Stadium, 13755 S. Main Street, Houston, 77035

• Legacy Stadium, 1830 Katyland Dr, Katy, TX 77493

• Stallworth Stadium, 2102 E Archer Rd, Baytown, TX 77521

OakBend Medical Group

OakBend Medical Group is conducting COVID-19 Testing if, and only if, the patient has symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath) AND have one of the following risk factors:

• Older than 65 years old

• Have serious underlying health conditions (heart disease, diabetes, lung disease/asthma, HIV, immunocompromised)

• Healthcare workers with suspected exposure Initial criteria for the Covid-19

Testing will require a Telehealth visit. To schedule a Telehealth visit call 281-238-7870. The patient will be screened during the Telehealth visit for criteria that suggests a possible positive Covid-19. The patient must have proper photo identification in order to proceed with testing. The patient specimen will be collected while the patient remains in the vehicle. Patient must arrive by car or truck. No patients on bikes will be tested. Drive-Thru testing hours 8:00am-1:00pm. (Numbers of test are limited). Test Results take 24-48 hours. Testing will be charged to patient insurance for patients that have Medicare, Medicaid

or Commercial insurance. For self-pay patients the cost of the test is $100 at the time of service. Patients must pay by credit/debit card prior to arriving for testing.

Smart Financial Centre (United Memorial Medical Center)

18111 Lexington Blvd, Sugar Land, TX 77479 Mondays through Thursdays from 10am to 4pm; Fridays from 9am-4pm Anyone experiencing COVID-19 related symptoms such as temperatures exceeding 100, shortness of breath and dry/persistent coughs may be tested at the site. Test results may take up to three days and everyone will be called by the hospital whether they test positive or negative. United Memorial has the capacity to do about 150 to 200 tests daily. Once they’ve reached the number of vehicles they can accommodate during this period of time, the gates will be closed and they’ll continue testing those that are lined up in the parking lot. No appointments or pre-registration needed and open to anyone not just residents of Fort Bend County.

Next Level Urgent Care

Next Level Urgent Care is testing symptomatic patients for COVID-19. To be evaluated for testing, please make an appointment for a virtual visit: https://www.nextlevelurgentcare.com/request-virtual-visit Virtual visits can be conducted 7 days a week between the hours of 9AM-9PM. Virtual visits can be billed to insurance or paid for directly if you do not have insurance.

UT Physicians Sienna

Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing 8810 Highway 6, Suite 100, Missouri City, TX, 77459 UT Physicians offers a convenient service that allows staff to test you while you are in your vehicle. It’s quick, easy and available to anyone who has an order from a health care provider (physician, nurse practitioner, etc.). You must call 713-486-2619 to schedule an appointment. Test results may take up to five days.

Masks for All

Dear Congregational Leader,

There is a rapidly growing COVID-19 need and an easy way for your congregation to meet it.

THE NEED
In order to restart businesses and our economy, local government officials are urging, if not requiring, the wearing of personal use face masks in public. Our congregants will also need masks to attend services when they resume. Many congregations are providing PPE to meet the needs of ourmedical community. This is why government leaders have asked Houston Responds to mobilize many more congregations to provide personal use face masks for all, especially for under-resourced families.

THE GOAL
1,000 congregations providing over 1,000,000 masks. How? 500 to 1,000 congregations mobilizing to create 100 to 200 masks (sewn or un-sewn) per week. The love, service, and generosity of local congregations will ensure over 1,000,000 people in Greater Houston will have potentially life-saving reusable masks.

WILLING AND ABLE
Is your congregation willing and able to participate? Are you already doing this? Please let us know if you are willing to help meet these needs:

1)    Produce Masks
2)    Serve as a Drop-off or Distribution Site for Masks
3)    Donate Funds, Masks, and/or Materials

For more information or to sign-up, please visit www.houstonresponds.org/masksforall. Please provide a contact person for this project when submitting the response form and someone from Houston Responds, or your local disaster response coalition will follow up with you.

Thank you for responding to this request from our civic leaders and providing love and care for our neighbors. May God bless our efforts!

For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14)

Volunteer Opportunities

We have been keeping you up to date with how you can help those in your community. Two of the pressing needs we still face are blood donors and delivery drivers to drop off food. Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center and CrowdSource Rescue are two major non-profits that are assisting those in our neighborhood. We have highlighted these issues before, and we would urge you if you are healthy and willing, to either donate blood or volunteer to be a delivery driver or dispatcher for those who are not able to leave their homes.

GULF COAST REGIONAL BLOOD CENTER
Those who are participating in blood drives are taking all precautions to ensure the safety of their donors, however, an appointment is required, In addition, you can find more information about this below and at GiveBlood.org. The Blood Center is encouraging social distancing and they are asking all donors to please make an appointment to prevent overcrowding.

CrowdSource Rescue
The CDC has identified older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions as being at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Many of our neighbors who are at risk are unable to leave their homes for fear of contracting COVID-19. Crowdsource Rescue (CSR) played a critical role during Harvey by helping match flood victims in need of rescue to rescuers willing and able to help. They have stepped up during the current COVID-19 crisis to help direct volunteers who are willing and able to deliver food and basic supplies to homebound at-risk neighbors who need it the most.

They need volunteers who are willing to pick up food and supplies from a Food Bank and deliver it to those in need. The need is critical now and is likely to increase in the weeks ahead. CSR has incorporated social distancing into their model to keep volunteers and clients as safe as possible. Volunteers drop off the food at the client’s doorstep and do not enter the home.

Up for a bigger challenge? CSR also has a need for dispatchers who take on the task of coordinating drivers, clients and food distribution.

Serving with CSR is one way that the faith community can care for our neighbors in need.

DIY Face Masks

The White House is urging Americans to wear cloth face coverings.

This is in addition to keeping your social distance of a minimum of 6 feet as well as staying home and washing your hands for at least 20 seconds.

White House coronavirus response coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, was careful to caution that any recommendation on masks must be “additive” and not a substitute for existing social distancing guidelines. Birx said people often feel “an artificial sense of protection because they are behind a mask.”

“Don’t get a false sense of security,” she said.

Unless you are a health care worker, or a first responder, you DO NOT need a N95 mask. A cloth mask is sufficient.

Initial CDC guidelines advised Americans against wearing masks unless they were medical professionals or were infected with the virus. The White House has been urging people without symptoms not to buy N95 or medical masks, fearing it would lead to further shortages.

The advisory, officials say, is aimed at reducing the risk of spread by people who are infected but are not showing symptoms.

“Wearing a cloth mask is not a substitute for staying home and regularly washing our hands,” the duo said in a joint statement Thursday. “By wearing a cloth mask when in public, we will limit transmission of the virus. Put simply, my mask protects you, and your mask protects me.”

Tutorial on making a mask:

How To Make a Face Mask

Make DIY Face Masks

Shelter In Place Order

What is a Stay at Home Order? 

Harris, Galveston, and Fort Bend Counties have issued stay-at-home orders effective at midnight today (March 24) until April 3. It is expected that many more counties in the Greater Houston area will follow suit.

This action orders the following: 

  • Remain at your place of residence unless engaging in essential activities, providing essential governmental functions, or operating essential businesses.
  • All businesses, except essential businesses, should cease all activities at facilities.
  • All public or private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a single house or living unit are prohibited
  • Restaurants may only provide take-out, delivery, or drive-through services as allowed by law
  • Religious and worship services may only be provided by video and teleconferencing while limiting in-person staff to ten people or less
  • All elective medical, surgical, and dental procedures are prohibited
  • If someone tests positive for Coronavirus, the whole household must quarantine for 14 days
  • Nursing homes, retirement communities and long-term care facilities are to prohibit non-essential visitors

According to the federal government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency guidelines, there are 16 sectors considered essential that can stay open:

  • Communications
  • Chemical
  • Critical Manufacturing
  • Commercial Facilities
  • Dams
  • Defense Industrial Base
  • Emergency Services
  • Energy
  • Financial
  • Food & Agriculture
  • Government Facilities
  • Healthcare & Public Health
  • Information Technology
  • Nuclear Reactors, Materials and Waste
  • Transportation Systems
  • Water

Under the order, grocery stores will stay open.

Parks will remain open, but no playgrounds, benches, exercise equipment or basketball courts may be used. People who enjoy the outdoor spaces must maintain social distancing.

Restaurants can continue providing takeout and drive-thru service, but must maintain social distancing between customers as well.

Day Care Centers that provide care for employees of essential businesses can remain open.

Religious and worship services are to be streamed online only, but one-on-one counseling between leaders and parishioners is allowed in an effort to help with mental health.

 

Senior Support Line

WHAT IS IT?
The H-E-B & Favor Senior Support Line is a new delivery program designed to offer a safer shopping solution for seniors across Texas.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, H-E-B and Favor are working together to provide a simple, affordable solution that offers contactless delivery of essential food and supplies to seniors where they are safest—at home.

WHO IS IT FOR?
The H-E-B & Favor Senior Support Line is available to seniors aged 60 and older in select Favor markets across Texas.

HOW DOES IT WORK? 
Starting Friday, March 20, seniors will be able to place orders from a curated list of grocery essentials via a dedicated Senior Support phone line, the Favor app, or favordelivery.com.

The Senior Support Line will be staffed with volunteers to accept and process orders over the phone from 9 a.m. to

1 p.m., seven days a week. To access the Senior Support Line, call 1-833-397-0080.

Once an order has been placed, a Favor Runner will personally shop for the items at H-E-B and deliver them within a few hours. To promote social distancing and limit exposure, all Favors will be dropped off at the customer’s doorstep.

ARE THERE ANY RESTRICTIONS?
Seniors will be able to select items from a curated list of generic products (such as milk, eggs, and bread), as well as add custom items to their order. There is currently a 25-item limit per order. In addition, substitutions may be offered based on product availability.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
To keep this service affordable for those most in need, H-E-B and Favor will waive all delivery and service fees for the first 30 days of the program. Instead, all orders will include a $10 tip, which goes entirely to the Favor Runner, who will personally shop and deliver the items.

WHEN AND WHERE WILL THIS PROGRAM BE AVAILABLE?
The H-E-B & Favor Senior Support Line will be available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily, starting Friday, March 20. The program is currently available to seniors who live within eight miles of an H-E-B in select Favor markets.

Covid-19 Testing Sites in Katy

As testing kits become available, Harris and Fort Bend Counties are preparing places for first responders, hospital personnel, and other people who are symptomatic or exposed to someone with a positive COVID-19 result to be tested.

In Katy, there will be a drive-thru testing site. However local officials are waiting on the gear from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Rafael Lemaitre, spokesman for Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s office.

The county and city have planned at least two sites in Katy and the surrounding area.

City and county officials previously have said they hoped to get those sites running by the end of the week, but the continuing delay in the FEMA shipment has made it less clear that they will meet that goal.

Officials took to social media Wednesday, asking residents not to show up at those sites yet and emphasized that they only will serve people who have been through a screening process.

Right now, if you are showing symptoms, stay home and call your doctors office.

More information is available at:

 

Katy Responds

Remember, together we are Katy strong!

Distance Socially | Dine Locally


Katy Responds COVID-19 Update

Fort Bend County has followed Harris County in ordering all restaurants and other establishments that serve food be limited to takeout, delivery and drive-thru options effective today.  This order is in effective until at least March 31.

Distance socially, dine locally!

Please continue to support these establishments.  Call your favorite restaurant and place a to-go order.  Drive-thru’s are still open, and many, like Chick-fil-a, have perfected the flow to reduce wait time.  Remember to be patient.  A smile goes a long way as we are all figuring out our temporary new schedules and work routines.

The City of Katy and surrounding areas have also limited or closed many of their city and county buildings and playgrounds.  Walking trails are still open, but please keep your distance.

Currently, per CDC guidelines, all gathering should be limited to no more than 10 people with reasonable proximity.

The best way to continue to spread hope faster than COVID-19 is to know that decisions are being made for the health and well being of our entire community. While we all may feel a bit stir crazy we are navigating together through time unparalleled for over a century. This unprecedented time calls for unprecedented calls to action in a global world more closely connected than we often realize. Updated information will become available as we are notified.

Everyone has a role to play.  Together we are Katy strong!

__________

Fort Bend Updates:  https://www.fbchealth.org/orders-impacting-restaurants-other-establishments-and-extending-disaster-declaration-by-the-county-judge-of-fort-bend-county/

Harris County:  https://www.readyharris.org/Newsroom/News-Releases/All-News-Releases/news-release-harris-county-judge-covid-19-regulations

CDC updates: www.cdc.gov