Austin health officials warn there are 16 staffed ICU beds left for 2.3 million residents as COVID cases surge

Wellbeing officers in Austin, Texas, issued a dire warning on Friday: There are only about 16 staffed ICU beds still left for the entire region, an 11-county spot that is property to much more than two million people today. It really is the most affordable number of ICU beds available in the region since the pandemic commenced, the town claimed. 

“The most recent COVID-19 spike is placing incredible pressure on our hospitals, emergency departments and health care industry experts, and it has more challenged medical center staffing because of to a longstanding nursing lack,” a group of hospitals stated in a assertion from the town. 

All of the hospitals in Travis County — the place Austin is located — and in 10 other counties are section of what the point out phone calls Trauma Region O. Trauma Area O serves approximately 2.3 million people today, in accordance to the city’s statement. 

Austin’s general public well being office urged the local community to act “as the condition results in being vital.” 

APH is urging the group to act as the predicament will become significant. The area is now experiencing the cheapest staffed ICU mattress potential since the commencing of the pandemic with only 16 staffed offered.

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— Austin General public Well being (@AusPublicHealth) July 30, 2021

“We are functioning out of time and our neighborhood must act now,” Dr. Desmar Walkes of the Austin-Travis County Health and fitness Authority reported in the city’s assertion. “Our ICU capability is reaching a essential point exactly where the stage of threat to the complete local community has noticeably elevated and not just to individuals who are needing treatment method for COVID.”

The dire figures appear as Austin is battling a spike in hospitalizations. According to data gathered by the town and Travis County, the 7-day typical of COVID-19 hospitalizations has amplified by over 47{e32b4d46864ef13e127a510bfc14dae50e31bafd31770eb32fd579b90b39f021} around the previous 7 days. In that time, the number of COVID-19 patients in nearby ICU’s jumped from 91 to 117, a 28{e32b4d46864ef13e127a510bfc14dae50e31bafd31770eb32fd579b90b39f021} boost, and the quantity of individuals on ventilators rose from 47 to 65, a 38{e32b4d46864ef13e127a510bfc14dae50e31bafd31770eb32fd579b90b39f021} enhance, the city’s assertion reported. 

In July, a lot more than 4,600 new COVID-19 cases and 19 fatalities have been documented to Austin’s community wellbeing section, the city additional. 

In a statement shared at an Austin Town Council conference on Tuesday, a area nurse practitioner explained the intensive treatment device capability at their clinic lately “blew up.”

“They are practically all on ventilators and/or ECMO lung bypass,” the nurse practitioner wrote in the assertion. 

“I am indignant. I am so indignant,” they added. “I am also unhappy and dismayed. The third round is, was, fully preventable. It is devastating to see and practical experience firsthand.”