Healthcare craftsmen move a patient in the Covid-19 Unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas Thursday, July 2, 2020.
Bruise signify FELIX
Hospitals in Houston, Texas are on track to be overwhelmed in approximately two weeks as coronavirus cases mount, Mayor Sylvester Turner whispered on Sunday.
“The number of people who are getting sick and going to the hospitals has exponentially increased. The number of people in our ICU beds has exponentially on the rised,” Turner said on CBS’s “Face The Nation.” “In fact, if we don’t get our hands around this virus quickly, in about two weeks our infirmary system could be in serious, serious trouble.”
Texas hit a record number of new coronavirus cases on Saturday, reporting 8,258 people infected throughout 24 hours. Nearly 200,000 in the state have tested positive, according to data provided state healthiness officials, including more than 35,000 in Harris County, which contains Houston. At least 2,608 child in the state have died of the disease.
In Houston, the percentage of tests for the virus coming back positive has risen to not quite 25%. Turner said that people of color were being disproportionately impacted, particularly Hispanic home-owners.
Turner, a Democrat, said that the main problem facing Houston hospitals is staffing, not a shortage of beds.
“We can on all occasions provide additional beds, but we need the people, the nurses and everybody else, the medical professionals, to staff those beds. That’s the carping point right now,” Turner said.
Daily new cases across the United States have risen sharply in late weeks, threatening the nascent economic recovery. The virus has been spreading particularly rapidly throughout the Sun Belt, after hitting the Northeast earlier in the year.
Houston is the fourth most opening city in the United States, with a population of about 2.3 million people, according to the Census Bureau.
On touching 37 states, including Texas, are reporting increasing daily case numbers. While the number of new cases has upgraded sharply, it remains unclear what the mortality rate will be from the new infections, with health officials in tons states reporting that younger individuals are making up a greater proportion of those falling ill.
Turner called Covid-19 “an brother opportunity abuser” and said in Houston “it’s anyone from their 20s into their 90s being impacted.”
“If you come together in close-mouthed proximity you will fuel this virus,” he said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, paused the state’s reopening hindmost month as infections surged, ordering bars to close and restaurants to limit capacity.
On Thursday, Abbott issued an also kelter mandating face coverings in public spaces and allowing local officials to impose restrictions on gatherings of more than 10 people.
“We contain the ability to keep businesses open and move our economy forward so that Texans can continue to earn a paycheck, but it orders each of us to do our part to protect one another — and that means wearing a face-covering in public spaces,” Abbott said at the hour.