Texas hospitals overwhelmed as cold weather cuts water and power supplies
Posted
SatSaturday 20
updated
SatSaturday 20
Many Texans are still being forced to go without water and electricity.
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US doctor Natasha Kathuria has practised medicine in 11 countries, worked through the 2014 Snowmageddon storm that brought Atlanta to a halt, and survived the past year s COVID-19 pandemic crush.
Key points:
Half of Texas s population is being ordered to boil water to ensure it is safe for consumption
Many hospital workers have remained at work because there is no heat or water at home
Crowded hospitals are facing shortages of water, posing risks for patients including those on dialysis
Reuters
Published: 19 Dec 2020 12:41 PM BdST
Updated: 19 Dec 2020 12:41 PM BdST Dr Eileen Sprys wears personal protective equipment as she walks in a parking lot to see a patient at Medical Arts Hospital in Lamesa, Texas, US, Dec 16, 2020. REUTERS
Running in between patients, Dr Eileen Sprys pauses to catch her breath, tries to gather herself, but cannot mask her frustration: The health care workers in her COVID-besieged West Texas hospital were left out of the first shipment of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, and they have no idea when they may get it. );
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Not a single rural hospital in this state that prides itself on its country roots received any doses of the vaccine this week, despite such medical outposts serving around 20% of the state s population, or 3 million people.