1 in 5 hospital beds in Texas now occupied by virus patients; ICUs exhausted as cases soar
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Coronavirus cases are exhausting the availability of intensive-care unit beds in parts of Texas as hospitalizations with Covid-19 continue to soar to record levels.
One in five hospital beds in Texas are now occupied by Covid-19 patients, state health statistics showed on Tuesday.
Hospitalizations with the illness the coronavirus causes set a ninth-consecutive record by topping 13,300 on Tuesday, with 626 patients requiring intensive care, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
All ICU beds at hospitals in the Abilene and Bryan-College Station areas are full, while only two are available in the Laredo area with three in the Paris-Texarkana area. ICU bed availability is in the single digits in the Wichita Falls-Northwest Texas, Lufkin-Piney Woods, Waco, Galveston-Beaumont and Victoria areas.
The state reported 26,543 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 3,637 new probable cases Tuesday, bringing the total in Texas for the eight-month outbreak to more than 1.6 million. The 250 newly reported deaths brought the state's total death toll to 28,219.
In all, the state estimated 314,465 Covid-19 cases were currently active. Also, the seven-day average test positivity rate for confirmed coronavirus cases has exceeded 20%, doubling “red flag” levels.
