Available intensive care unit beds in Texas have dropped 17% in two days, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services.
On Tuesday, hospitals in Texas had 1,148 beds available. By Thursday, that had fallen to 953, a two-day drop of 195.
Coronavirus cases have been surging in Texas. The Lone Star State reported 29,789 new cases in the last three days.
On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott halted nonessential elective surgeries in over 100 counties in an effort to ensure hospitals have enough ICU beds to handle the surge.
Of the larger metropolitan areas, Brownsville-McAllen, at the southern tip of the state, experienced the biggest drop, from 66 ICU beds to 21, a decline of more than two-thirds. The Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, and San Antonio areas each saw a decline of about 25%. Houston, however, experienced a small drop of only four beds, from 118 to 114.
On Tuesday, Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council CEO Stephen Love told the Washington Examiner, “We’ve had a 2.5 times increase in COVID-19 patients over the last three weeks.” He anticipated that hospitals would have to implement plans they have in place to deal with the surge in two to three weeks.
Available ICU beds declined from 320 to 244 from Tuesday to Thursday in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. That is a daily drop of 38. At that rate, the Dallas-Fort Worth area will run out of ICU beds in a week.
