The increase in covid infection has taken up the additional wards in hospitals across North Texas. The number has crossed 17% of the total bed capacity because of the spike. Reports state that the Parkland Health and Hospital system has already filled up their Covid-19 wards in less than a week, which is alarming. The spread of the new contagious variant has made this spread quite evident, with cases rising more than before.
High rate of COVID-19 spread
The largest hospital in the area now has a large influx of Covid-129 patients, with the Chief Medical Officer showing concern at the possibility of another pandemic wave hitting soon. The sudden increase has put pressure on health officials and infrastructure to rethink calling for alerts.
While the hospital is still reeling under the pressure of patients coming at this rate, they need to rethink how to deal with the crisis of accommodating them. Other infections come during these wintry months that doctors face, coupled with the COVID-19 crisis. According to Dallas News, apart from the viral infections, heart disease, pneumonia, and COVID-19 seem to flourish during winters have jolted the system to handle the existing staff and infrastructure.
The emergency room has seen 997 patients in a day which is one hell of a record for the hospital.
Impact on healthcare systems
As a part of the executive order issued by Governor Greg Abbot last year, 2020, areas whose hospital capacity consumes 15% of COVID-19 patients for a week need to postpone elective surgeries in other procedures and focus energies on controlling the pandemic. The hospitals are trying to adhere to the executive order. However, sometimes they may have to do those tests or surgeries that are important.
The rapid spread of the omicron is unprecedented and there is a fear that health care systems may crumble under pressure due to the already shortage of staff and rising number of cases every other day. Texas state has reported 7,015 covid-19 hospitalizations on Monday apart already 2,260 hospitalized patients. The statistics are grim across Texas, with 33.9% positivity rare, showing only in the past seven days.
