Resurgence of coronavirus cases threatens to swamp hospitals in Texas, Florida and other states
- Extra staff are being brought in to deal with a rising number of sick patients
- In Arizona, as of Wednesday, 88 per cent of the Intensive Care Unit beds statewide were occupied, up from 68 per cent in mid-May
Just weeks after the coronavirus overwhelmed hospitals in and around New York City, medical centers in Arizona, Florida, Texas and other states with skyrocketing infections are rapidly filling with sick patients, threatening state health care systems.
The swift increase has forced hospital leaders to begin bringing in extra staff, converting space into dedicated coronavirus units and, in some cases, moving sick patients hundreds of miles to get to available beds.
Surging numbers of patients with Covid-19 – though still shy of the wave that hit New York – also raise the prospect of new restrictions on non-essential medical care to free up beds for patients infected with virus.
“The numbers are definitely scary,” said Judy Rich, chief executive of Tucson Medical Center, a hospital with more than 500 beds that serves patients from across southern Arizona. Tucson Medical Center has seen a threefold increase in Covid-19 patients since the beginning of June.
“When we started opening up the state, we immediately saw pictures of people packing into bars at night and celebrating,” Rich said. “It feels like we did too much too fast, and now we are paying the price.”
California, where infections are also soaring, is beginning to experience its own crush, with the number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients surging 32 per cent in the last two weeks, Governor Gavin Newsom reported Thursday.