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COVID-19 is surging again in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott has tested positive. Hospitalizations are increasing faster than at any other time. Local officials and school leaders are rebelling against Abbott’s ban on mask mandates. Here’s the latest.
Originally published on December 22, 2020 12:48 pm
Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene is overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. As Hendrick Health chief medical officer Rob Wiley explained, the intensive care unit has been over capacity for weeks.
“So right now, we are presently staying over probably 130% capacity every day,” he said. “And we ve been that way for a very long period of time for over a month.”
That means there are more patients requiring intensive care than the total number of staffed beds. Hendrick Medical Center and other hospitals have been forced to activate surge capacity.
“We re being asked to manage patients in the emergency room on floors that typically are not ICU beds, but we ve converted to ICU beds,” he said. “Fortunately, we ve had the nursing staff who have been able to take care of it because if you don t have the nursing staff, you can t take care of the patients, obviously,” Wiley said.