HOUSTON — Editor's note: The video above originally aired on June 25.
Federal funding will continue after all for community-based COVID-19 testing sites across Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday.
The Trump administration had threatened to pull the funding, which was set to expire on June 30.
Republican Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn sent a letter to Health and Human Services and FEMA urging continued support as Texas set record levels for single-day cases three days in a row.
“Texas is currently experiencing a rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases. In the last two weeks, daily new cases, the overall positivity rate, and hospitalizations in Texas have all increased,” they wrote. “Now is not the time to end a program that is working and successfully increasing testing capacity—especially for underserved communities in the state.”
RELATED: Cornyn, Cruz send letter requesting continued federal support for COVID-19 testing sites in Texas
Gov. Abbott said he also asked the feds to extend operations at the sites.
"The State of Texas remains unwavering in our efforts to secure access to testing in communities across the state," said Governor Abbott. "These federally-supported testing sites are a vital
Mayor Sylvester Turner vowed to keep Houston’s two federally-supported testing sites at Delmar Stadium and Butler Stadium open no matter what.
“Just those two sites alone, over 60,000 people have been tested, and they are maxing out before noon every single day now,” Turner said. “They are hugely important.”