HOUSTON — A confirmed case of the South African COVID variant has been found for the first time in the Houston area.
The Fort Bend County patient has since recovered after catching the virus in December. He had traveled within the U.S. before returning to his home in Fort Bend County.
Officials said the people in his home have tested negative for the virus and this individual has not been to work, but they want the community to be on alert.
More cases of the UK COVID strain were confirmed Saturday in the Houston area, doctors with Methodist Hospital said Monday during a press conference.
Two people here have tested positive for the UK variant since the last confirmed case in January. One of those individuals is in their 50s and is currently hospitalized. The other one is recovering at home.
"This is a stark reminder that we are far from over," said health officials.
As of Monday, the city of Houston's COVID positivity rate stood at 15.1 percent.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said although this number is down three points since last month, the number is still too high.
The city continues to ramp up its efforts to get those most vulnerable vaccinated.
This weekend, the Houston Health Department will be setting up a vaccine clinic at Gulfgate Community Health Center, located at 7550 Office City Dr. in southeast Houston.
There are no new appointments available this week, but the city does anticipate a shipment of at least 1,000 doses of the vaccine in the upcoming days.
Also happening this week, pharmacies across Houston will start getting doses of the first-round vaccine to distribute.
For Texas, that includes CVS, Walmart and H-E-B.
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CVS says they’ll start accepting appointments as early as Tuesday for the first vaccinations on Thursday.