Amid rise in COVID-19 cases among children in North Texas, Tarrant County has no more beds available for more patients, according to data.
Tarrant County public health officials confirmed the data Tuesday during a county’s commissioner’s court meeting. The total number of pediatric beds occupied was not released but officials with Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth said Wednesday that all 43 of their intensive care beds are occupied, 10 of which are by COVID-19 patients, WFAA reported.
Tarrant County has a total of 382 beds and as of Tuesday, 4, 105 people are hospitalized.
But county officials said that hospitalizations in the county started to decrease but capacity levels remain high since last winter.
Snapshot data showed that hospitals all over North Texas are struggling to provide pediatric beds due to the surge of children getting infected with the Delta variant – which aims at the unvaccinated ones – even though bed capacity numbers change often.
“Now that we have a vaccine, many have let their guard down,” said Stephen Love, president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council. “Please don’t do that. If you’re vaccinated, or unvaccinated, if you’re out in public, wear a mask.”
All over the region, there are no pediatric intensive care beds available as of Tuesday according to DFW Hospital Council. A total of 94 children are hospitalized with the virus across the region and 94.9% of all pediatric beds are occupied.
As of Monday, 52 children systemwide were hospitalized at Children’s Health, located in Dallas and Frisco. At least 3, 500 people, comprising all age groups, were hospitalized due to COVID-19 in North Texas as of Tuesday.
Tarrant County has 1, 183 patients who are hospitalized and Dallas has 975.
The latest data showed that 54 adult ICU beds are available in North Texas: 21 in Tarrant, 20 in Dallas, 10 in Collin, and one in Denton, Hood, and Wise.
