AUSTIN, Texas -- There are two new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Texas, both in the Houston area. The announcement by Houston officials comes one day after a man in a nearby suburb became the first Texan with a positive test result outside of a quarantine site. All of the patients recently traveled abroad.
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This comes as state officials say Texas labs can now test for the coronavirus.
As the number of coronavirus cases grows in Texas, the City of Austin has yet to confirm a positive case.
COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE: Coronavirus
"We don't have a case locally, but the preparedness is really good," said Dr. Elizabeth Douglass with Dell Medical School at UT Austin.
Dr. Douglass says hospital systems across the state routinely train for pandemic viruses, testing and quarantine procedures. She says as coronavirus concerns grow, infectious disease physicians are in nearly daily meetings with local health departments.
"There's protocols for emergency rooms, there's protocols for clinics, even going forward and having phone interviews and trying to triage patients appropriately," said Douglass.
Now, six labs across the state can test for the virus. Gov. Greg Abbott says those facilities can provide results within a day or two.
"The COVID-19 test includes a nasal and oral swab taken from the patient from the local health department then coordinates the shipping of the specimen to the closest public health lab for processing and testing," said Abbott.
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But the capacity to test remains limited. The Austin lab, for example, can only test samples from up to 26 patients per day. In the Dallas and Lubbock facilities, that number is as low as 10, highlighting once again the need for basic virus prevention.
"Practicing good personal hygiene habits works against other viruses and it'll work against this one also," said Abbott.
Meaning you don't need to buy that face mask.
"There is a concern that if everyone continues to by those there will be a shortage," said Douglass.
She encourages the public to leave masks for medical professionals who need them. Testing capacity is limited because of a shortage of testing materials. Trump administration officials are promising to deliver 1 million tests for the coronavirus to U.S. labs this week.