The City of Brownsville held a BTX Cares Talks Medical Edition live-streamed video on Friday where Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez and City Commissioner Jessica Tetreau talked to medical workers to inform and update the community on COVID-19.
Guest speakers for the talk were Dr. Jairo Rodriguez, a pulmonologist; Dr. Juan Garcia, MD family practice physician; Dr. Asim Zamir, a pediatrics specialist; Dr. Geraldine Mullane, an Emergency Medicine; and Dr. Eder Hernandez, DMSc, PA-C, who is in charge of the COVID-19 drive-thru testing center at the Brownsville Sports Park.
“I am honored to have such a great medical panel of experts and people who are willingly at the front lines. I felt it was important to give our citizens a perspective on what it’s like out there, what’s really happening and what you are all seeing in the different specialties and really realize the importance of everything that’s going on and most importantly the seriousness of everything that’s happening as well,” Mendez said during his opening remark at the beginning of the live-streamed video.
Hernandez gave an update on the drive-thru testing site and said the team has come a long way since the beginning of the project and that there has been 1,842 community members tested and 4,000 questionnaires screened. He said they are following the CDC recommendations and guidelines to see who qualifies for a test but that they have been updating the questionnaire as more information becomes available.
Mullane said hospitals are taking the necessary precautions to keep the facility safe for everyone. She advised the community not to refuse to seek medical attention if they are not feeling well. She said every person who enters the building is screened and if they are suspected for COVID-19 they are taken to a separate area so those who need urgent medical attention should not be afraid of being exposed to the virus.
“We want everybody who feels ill to come to the ER (emergency room) and be screened, regardless of your illness, we don’t want people to be afraid to come to the ER and be afraid that they will be unnecessarily exposed to COVID, because that will not be the case,” she said.
To watch the full video, visit the City of Brownsville’s Facebook page.
