The hospitals have begun to transfer patients elsewhere, including to San Antonio.Įrik Epley, the executive director for the Southwestern Texas Regional Advisory Council said 250 additional nurses from other parts of the state have arrived in San Antonio to help as of Monday.Ī similar action has been taken for hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley: More than 100 healthcare professionals, including nurses and epidemiologists from across the state, have been sent to the region to assist staff last week. In the Rio Grande Valley, 10 of 12 hospitals in Hidalgo, Cameron and Starr counties are full. | Related: Laredo Confronts 'Managed Crisis' After Sharp Rise In Hospitalizations From COVID-19 | The state responded by sending back-up medical staff from San Antonio. Last week, Laredo Medical Center’s COVID-19 unit reached capacity due to lack of staffing. Because if we can decrease the number of cases that will result in a decrease in the number of people needing to go to the hospital,” Bridger said.īut even if the increase of cases in San Antonio slows, other counties rely on the city’s medical industry. So that's why we're so focused on decreasing the number of cases. And if that keeps happening, we're going to run out of bed space. And you know, they're doubling every week. “It’s very, very clear that our healthcare system is extremely stressed right now. “So if you increase on average 10% per day, you have a doubling every seven days.”Ĭolleen Bridger, assistant city manager and interim director of Metro Health in San Antonio, said on TPR’s “The Source” that the city’s focus is on decreasing cases altogether, which she said will lead to a decrease in stress on the hospital system. “We have been seeing consistently - since at least the 24th of June, every single day - it's been 10% to even 19% increase in the number of cases from the day before,” Berggren said. In an interview on TPR’s “The Source,” Berggren said the surge of cases Bexar County has seen has put this strain on the region’s hospital system, which has been under “ high stress” for weeks. Ventilator availability is also shrinking: it dropped from 72% to 57% between June 28 and July 5. “We are using post-surgical acute care units for COVID patients and trying as best we can to care for our patients inside the brick and mortar hospital walls, which is the best place to take care of them.” Ruth Berggren, infectious disease expert for UT Health San Antonio.

“Everybody is doing what they can to open up new beds. This Sunday, July 5, that number dropped to 10%. On Sunday, June 28, 25% of staffed beds in local hospitals were available.

In the San Antonio area, hospital capacity is dipping steeply. He said people need to do what they can to help limit the spread of this virus, which in some ways is as simple as putting a face covering between you and another person. And now we are looking at an acceleration of cases and if the pace continues, we're a week away from running out of hospital beds and ICU capacity,” Nirenberg said. 'From the beginning of June, this was a stark difference, and we had one of the lowest infection rates of any big city in the country. Mayor Ron Nirenberg, speaking on CNN Monday morning, said San Antonio is on the verge of losing its capacity. The lack of availability of beds and ventilators is concerning for Bexar County and the smaller, rural counties that may rely on San Antonio hospitals for intensive care. As COVID-19 hospitalizations and new cases increase, staffed hospital beds and ventilator capacity are decreasing. San Antonio hospitals are under duress, and they have been for weeks. It was originally published on Sunday, July 5, at 10:48 p.m.

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The bank pushing for it says it’ll help prevent shootings, while critics fear it stems from a bias against law-abiding gun owners.Ĭhicago’s mayor said she welcomes illegal immigrants bused from Texas, but then she sent them to a different city. Major credit card companies have agreed to adopt a new categorization for purchases made at gun stores. This suggests the FBI may soon search the homes of some Trump supporters. Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers on Monday urged a federal judge to reject the Department of Justice’s bid to keep reviewing documents that were taken during the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago.Ī prominent attorney says three of her clients, all Trump allies, have been served with search warrants or subpoenas.

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