ABBOTT: “ABUNDANT” HOSPITAL CAPACITY AVAILABLE TO TREAT SPIKE IN COVID-19 HOSPITALIZATIONS

  

Governor Greg Abbott said Tuesday the state has plenty of hospital capacity to treat recent spikes in COVID-19 patient hospitalizations.

At a news conference, Abbott addressed the state’s new highs in hospitalized patients, which hit 2,518 Tuesday.  Abbott said there is an “abundant hospital capacity that exists to treat Texans who may test positive for COVID-19”, adding the state is “laser-focused” on maintaining that capacity.  According to numbers presented at the conference by the Department of State Health Services, nearly 15,000 hospital beds are still available out of the almost 55,000 reported beds across the state.

Abbott said large batches of positive COVID-19 tests being counted at once and reporting errors made up a sizable portion of Tuesday’s newly reported cases, which totaled 2,622.  He also suggested recent spikes are due in part to young people not taking the virus seriously, saying there are counties where a majority of positive tests come from people under the age of 30.  He said that typically results from people visiting bar-type settings.

Abbott said the increase in hospital occupancy does raise concern, but there is no reason to be alarmed.  He said there is still room to expand beds, the ability remains to surge more hospital beds if needed, and the option still exists to go back to disallowing non-critical hospital procedures to have more beds available if necessary.

Abbott said COVID-19 still exists in Texas, and the state is in the middle of a short period of time where everyone has to coexist with the coronavirus.  He once again strongly encouraged the public to wear masks, stay home often, wash and sanitize their hands frequently, and continue to practice social distancing.