Texas Gov. Greg Abbott – who has been opposed to vaccine mandates – is now asking for federal help with COVID-19 testing and treatment

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that his state has requested federal help for testing sites.

"Detecting and preventing COVID-related hospitalizations are critical to our fight against this virus," Abbott said.

The state requested resources for testing locations and medical personnel in a press release on Friday.
Abbott requested support for testing sites in several counties because of their high positivity rates.

The top 25 US counties for confirmed COVID-19 cases are Bexar, Dallas, Harris, and Tarrant.

There were 10,892 new cases in Texas as of Sunday. The state had a test positivity rate of 26.49%.
Abbott said the state requested additional medical personnel and supplies for urban areas.
The Texas Department of State Health Services announced last week that the state had run out of sotrovimab, a vaccine against the Omicron variant.

Abbot said in his press release that the state of Texas is urging the federal government to step up in the fight against the disease because the Biden administration has cut supplies.
In October, Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting Texas entities from issuing vaccine mandates. Biden announced plans to require private businesses with more than 100 employees to have weekly testing.

"In yet another instance of federal government overreach, the Biden Administration is now forcing many private entities into imposing vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions that threaten Texas's continued recovery from the COVID-19 disaster," Abbott said in the order.
A federal judge halted Biden's mask and vaccine mandate as conditions for funding for Head Start programs on Friday.
Abbot said Texas just beat Biden again.

At the time of publication, Insider was unable to reach Abbott's office.