CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales spoke on a new COVID-19 clinic free of charge for patients who have tested positive for the virus and have mild symptoms during Wednesday's county commissioners court meeting.
She said the clinic will help keep Coastal Bend emergency rooms focused on treating patients with severe symptoms, or are in serious condition, while the clinic focuses on less-severe patients.
This will also help local health authorities keep on eye on patients.
“The reason the clinic is so needed is (because) when you have 5,000 cases, you’ve got to find a way to monitor these people and be able to see how we can help them,” she said.
But before this clinic can be fully functional, several safety measures, such as installing Plexiglass, still need to be addressed.
“Those have to be put in place there to protect the people that would be coming in and the people that would be working there,” she said.
Canales said the clinic aims to help patients seek proper COVID-19 care, and also can help patients with underlying conditions complicating the virus such as diabetes.
“If you're diabetic, you need to be doing certain things," he said. "There may be certain medications you need to be on prophylactically to help you.”