Texas COVID-19 hospitalizations approach record high
As Texas coronavirus hospitalizations near record levels, people are being urged to keep practicing safety measures this holiday season.
The Texas Department of State Health Services on Wednesday reported 10,574 COVID-19 hospitalizations. Texas saw the highest number of hospitalizations in July when there were 10,893 coronavirus patients in Texas hospitals.
In Tarrant County hospitalizations have also been climbing, with 1,168 coronavirus patients in hospitals as of Tuesday. Confirmed COVID patients were using a pandemic high 23% of all available beds in the county. Tarrant County is reporting 994 available beds.
“For the North Texas counties, I can certainly say that the trend is not looking good,” said Rajesh Nandy, an associate professor of biostatistics and epidemiology in the University of North Texas Health Science Center’s School of Public Health.
“In many ways, we are … in a situation which is equal or worse than where we were in like mid-July.”
COVID-19 Hospitalizations over Time
Coronavirus daily hospitalization counts in Texas and the larger Trauma Service Areas, beginning April 8, 2020. Data provided by Texas Health and Human Services.
A combination of factors may be contributing to the spike in hospitalizations. The most significant is COVID-19 fatigue, where people seemingly give up on following safety guidelines closely, Nandy said.
Another factor is the holidays, when people tend to travel and gather with their loved ones.
“There is a lot of travel this year,” Nandy said. “Of course, this year is much less than compared to other years, but it’s certainly not zero.”
Nandy said he’s concerned about the Christmas and New Year’s holidays given the upward trend. With holiday travel, Nandy doesn’t expect to see a reversal — if any — until mid-January.
State officials are encouraging people to stay at home for the holiday and celebrate only with the people they live with.
“We know people don’t want to spread the disease, and nobody intends to, but we still continue to see that this is a disease that can spread … before people have symptoms or very, very mild symptoms,” said DSHS Spokesperson Chris Van Deusen.
Texas reported on Wednesday 11,638 hospital beds available statewide. Ten trauma service areas, including the one that encompasses Tarrant County, had seen 15% or more of total hospital capacity filled by COVID‑19 patients for the last seven days as of Dec. 21.
The state is reporting 1,487 available hospital beds and 73 available ICU beds in the area that includes Tarrant County.
“There are lots of hospitals there,” Van Deusen said. “There are lots of hospital beds, but we’re down to double digits of ICU beds available, and … that’s really when it starts to get concerning.”
Baylor Scott and White Health in a Thursday statement said its medical centers have sufficient capacity at this time but are seeing a “very high number of patients with COVID-19.”
“We ask for the community’s help in preventing the spread of COVID-19 – employing tactics such as hand hygiene, physical distancing and face covers – which will help to reduce hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions and ensure that our hospitals are ready for those who need care most during this time,” the statement reads.
The mortality rate could climb if hospitals go beyond their capacity, Nandy said. With hospitals above capacity, choices may have to be made as to how to allocate limited resources — whether it be medical equipment or staff. This could have deadly consequences.
“That is the most unfortunate situation, and that’s what I’m most concerned about with the high hospitalizations,” Nandy said.
DSHS Commissioner John Hellerstedt, when asked about the rising hospitalizations at a Dec. 17 news conference, said the resurgence in Texas and other parts of the country “should be of great concern to us.”
He went on to call the coronavirus vaccine and antibody treatments are a “ray of hope.”
“They are not yet the answer,” Hellerstedt said, encouraging people to keep wearing masks and practicing social distancing. “They will be the answer as time goes on.”
If there is a silver lining, it’s that the growth in hospitalizations in North Texas is slow, Nandy said. It buys hospitals a bit more time to prepare.
“It gives us a little more time to accommodate patients, but again, the hospitals can only do so much,” Nandy said.
This story was originally published December 23, 2020 at 8:19 PM.
