Houston ICUs surpass 100% capacity as coronavirus cases surge in Texas

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Coronavirus cases occupy 480 of the 1,330 ICU beds at the Texas Medical Center in Houston.
• Texas has recorded a record-breaking 6,975 new cases in a single day.
• Phase 2 of its overflow plan is to add 373 beds and Phase 3 at 3,504 beds to be made available for coronavirus cases.   

The Texas Medical center in Houston, Texas is one of the world’s largest medical centers and the coronavirus has it operating at 102% capacity.

With a record-breaking 6,975 new cases in a single day, Texas’s total ICU beds capacity has been filled up to the brim.  According to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, in June alone, Texas has recorded 75,000 cases.

The current admittance has more than tripled from 1,756 to 6,533.

To cover the growing need, overflow measures have been put in place by making 373 more beds available for Phase 2 and 504 more additional beds for Phase 3.  Hospital staff and equipment were also reallocated to fill the need.

Texas Medical Center CEO Bill McKeon says that the overflow plans and phases show that even with the hospital reaching its capacity, there are still measures to cope with it.

“We’re four times what we were in May and April, so we’re very concerned. We don’t want this discussion about capacity to lose sight of this virus being highly active in our community,” McKeon said.

Coronavirus cases have been filling the Texas Medical Center campus with an estimated 36% or 480 current patients of its 1,330 ICU beds.   The TMC includes Memorial Hermann and Houston Memorial, Baylor College of Medicine, and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

After coronavirus hospitalizations rose, Texas Governor Greg Abbot ordered a pause or a slow down in what was once a very aggressive strategy to reopen activities and business.  Even the bars and restaurants that were allowed to operate at 50% capacity has been ordered to shut down.

Texas County and City officials are now calling for enacting face mask requirements in an effort to slow down the surge in cases.   

Source: AOL