Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson hosted a press conference Wednesday afternoon to provide an update on the city's COVID-19 response.
The mayor began the press conference by urging citizens to wear their masks.
"Wear a mask. This is the single most important thing you can do to slow the spread of COVID-19. I know we want to go back to normal and return to life as we know it," Johnson said.
He went on to say that the COVID-19 numbers in Dallas are getting worse.
"The data is clear. Our case numbers and our hospitalization numbers, which we are tracking daily, are headed in the wrong direction," Johnson said.
The mayor quickly said discussions were ongoing to determine if they needed again turn the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center into a temporary hospital and that they were working toward a solution on the future of community-based testing sites for COVID-19.
On Thursday, Johnson said the DFW Hospital Council and Dallas County said they did not want to stand up the convention center as a pop-up hospital at this time and believe that they can handle COVID-19 hospitalization surge in existing medical facilities.
He also said that in order not to overwhelm the healthcare system in Dallas, citizens must take precautions to protect themselves from the virus.
The current testing sites at the American Airlines and Davis Field House will no longer have federal support past June 30. They have twice been extended already.
Dr. Kelvin Baggett, COVID-19 health and healthcare access czar and Rocky Vaz, director of the office of emergency management, both joined the mayor at the news conference.
