Amid record COVID cases and hospitalizations, Abbott says Texas has ‘abundant’ capacity
Texas has seen record hospitalizations of patients with the novel coronavirus nearly every day in the last week. Amid a new single-day high of cases Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott emphasized that the state has sufficient hospital capacity and that it’s up to individual Texans to keep following safety guidelines.
Abbott said during a press conference Tuesday that Texas was set to report a new single-day high of 2,622 new COVID-19 cases — the same day that the number of patients hospitalized with the novel coronavirus reached an all-time high of 2,518 patients. Later that afternoon, the state also reported 1,476 new cases from Texas Department of Criminal Justice testing that had been previously diagnosed but not reported, and the state surpassed 2,000 COVID-19 related deaths.
“The increased occupancy of hospital beds, it does raise concerns,” Abbott said. “But as shown today there is no reason right now to be alarmed.”
The state has set records for hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients eight of the past nine days. Hospitalizations have been trending upward since late May, and have increased by about 66% since the 1,511 patients hospitalized on Memorial Day. Before last week, the previous record for hospitalizations was on May 5, with 1,888 patients.
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.
No restrictions or pauses on the state’s phased reopening of businesses were announced Tuesday, although Abbott reiterated that he could reintroduce a temporary ban on elective medical procedures to increase hospital capacity if needed.
“Jobs can be maintained without jeopardizing the health of a community if everyone follows the safe strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Abbott said.
Abbott said there is an “abundant supply” of beds available, and referred to the example that while 64 COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth region Tuesday, 308 beds became available. Abbott cited strategies like providing the experimental drug remdesivir to treat patients and increased personal protective equipment as means that have bolstered hospitals’ ability to treat patients.
John Zerwas, a former state representative who now serves as the vice chancellor for health affairs for the University of Texas System, said hospitals have not yet had a need to increase bed capacity by using additional areas or setting up pop-up facilities outside of hospitals.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 14,993 beds, 1,675 intensive care unit beds and 5,869 ventilators were available in the state.
Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat from Grand Prairie and chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement that Abbott “has failed all Texans by refusing to take the evidence-based actions needed to flatten the COVID-19 curve.”
Turner noted that both new cases and the state’s infection rate have been increasing. The state’s infection rate — how many cases are positive out of the number tested — has been trending upward since late May. The state’s seven-day average infection rate rose to 8% on June 6, and was at about 6.6% Sunday.
The state also has yet to consistently meet its goal of conducting 30,000 tests a day.
“We need to slow the spread and see a decline in new cases — that was our goal before, and it should still be today,” Turner said.
Of the counties contributing to the new single-day high in cases, Abbott pointed to Collin County, which reported 120 people testing positive Tuesday. Abbott said that jump in cases is, in part, due to testing at an assisted living facility.
Abbott also said reports have indicated that since the beginning of June, there has been a rise in people under 30 years old testing positive for COVID-19.
“It’s hard to tell exactly where those people contracted COVID. It could be Memorial Day celebrations,” Abbott said. “It could be a bar setting. It could be some other type of gathering.”
Regardless, trends like those will help inform the state’s strategies, Abbott said, noting that the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission warned bars and restaurants Monday that violating social distancing guidelines or capacity limits could result in license suspensions. Restaurants were allowed to increase their capacity to 75% Friday.
Public health experts have said it’s not entirely unexpected that the number of cases is increasing as businesses reopen and people begin to gather and venture outside. However, they cautioned the state has yet to see the full effects of hundreds gathering across the state to protest police brutality, and that Texans must be cautious amid the uptick in cases.
Ultimately, officials said, it’s up to individual Texans to continue to stay home as much as possible, wear face masks, wash their hands and remain at least six feet apart.
However, Abbott pushed back on a request Tuesday from the mayors of Texas’ largest cities urging him to restore local officials’ ability to enforce the wearing of face masks.
“On the other side of that first wave, there’s still a majority of people in Texas who did not get COVID-19, and therefore do not have immunity to COVID-19, and therefore could become infected with COVID-19,” DSHS Commissioner John Hellerstedt said.
“So the possibility that things could flare up again and produce a resurgence of COVID-19 that would be a stress on our healthcare system is still very real.”
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 3:46 PM.
