This is to ensure that all Covid patients can be adequately cared for, said Governor Greg Abbott in a letter to the hospital association on Monday. The Ministry of Health will also endeavor to recruit medical staff from other states to care for corona patients, it said. Disaster control is also to reopen infusion centers where patients can receive blood plasma treatments.
The situation in Texas has worsened significantly due to the particularly contagious delta variant of the corona virus. In the state with 29 million inhabitants, an average of around 12,000 new corona infections were recently reported per day, as data from the authorities show. According to this, around 9,000 Covid patients are currently being treated in hospitals. The Republican Abbott has made corona requirements, such as masking compulsory, illegal in the state. In Texas, around 44 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, and nationwide the vaccination rate is 50 percent.
The latest corona wave has so far hit states in the south of the country hard, including Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Missouri. The governor of Arkansas, Republican Asa Hutchinson, warned on Monday via Twitter that there are currently only eight beds available in the intensive care unit in the entire state. In the meantime, more Covid patients are being treated in hospital than ever before during the pandemic. Of the 1376 patients, 286 are connected to a ventilator. “Vaccinations reduce hospital stays,” he continued.
The US authorities are now reporting an average of around 100,000 new infections per day. In June, before the delta variant caught on, it was only around 10,000 a day at times. On average, more than 450 people die every day after a corona infection, according to data from the CDC health authority.