Texas State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez Hosts COVID-19 Tele-Town Hall

AUSTIN, TX — State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez hosted a remote town hall gathering on Sunday with health experts discussing the new coronavirus threat.

Members of the public were given an opportunity to address their concerns regarding the respiratory illness outbreak now dubbed COVID-19 caused by a member of the coronavirus family that’s a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past.

During the so-called "tele-town hall," members of the public were able to pose questions to a panel of health experts and medical professionals that included:

• Dr. Anas Daghestani, president & CEO of Austin Regional Clinic;
• Dave Gruber, associate commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services;
• Stephanie Hayden, director of Austin Public Health;
• Dr. Donald Murphey, an infectious disease specialist and member of the Texas Medical Association COVID-19 task force.

“In these challenging times, Texans are counting on their public officials to share timely, factual information with them about our coordinated response to COVID-19," Rodriguez said in a prepared statement. "I hope that this discussion serves as a valuable resource and as a call to action. We all must do our part to help ensure that our healthcare system is able to handle COVID-19 by practicing good hygiene and social distancing. If each one of us does our duty, we will get through this together.”

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A recording of the tele-town hall is accessible by clicking here.

Rodriguez represents South, Central and East Austin along with the southeast portion of Travis County in the Texas House of Representatives. He was appointed to serve on the House Committees on State Affairs, Ways & Means and Calendars in the 86th Texas Legislature.

Among the topics discussed during the hour-long discussion were:

• Basics about COVID-19; risk factors, preparation, when to expect symptoms and how it spreads.
• Testing capacity (current and future).
• What to do if you’re sick or showing symptoms of COVID-19; if you don’t have health insurance.
• Vaccine timeline.
• State of coordinated response; local/state/federal cooperation, importance of proactive preparation and response, learning from other countries’ successes and failures.
• Beginning of community spread in Texas, including here in Austin/Travis County.
• Capacity of our healthcare system and why it is so important to flatten the curve.
• What to do: good hygiene and social distancing; what is social distancing.
• Hoarding/price-gouging and actions being undertaken to keep grocery stores stocked
• What to expect in the summer.
• Efforts to alleviate negative economic consequences felt by workers.
• Importance of caring for our neighbors, getting through this together.