Only 2 Available ICU Beds Left In Austin Metro: APH

Austin TX

10 August, 2021

11:37 AM

Description

AUSTIN, TX — There are only two available ICU beds left to serve 2.3 million residents living in and near the Austin Metro, said Dr. Desmar Walkes, the Austin-Travis County Health Authority. The number dropped to two as of Monday night, Walkes said in a joint Austin City Council and Travis County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday. On Sunday, there were only 6 staffed ICU beds left. Along with Region O's low availability, she noted that available ICU beds around the state are also low and that transferring patients to other hospitals is becoming "increasingly difficult." According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, there were only 394 available ICU beds, 8,280 available hospital beds and 7,061 ventilators for more than 29 million Texans as of Sunday. In Region O, which spans 11 counties including Travis and Williamson, there were 470 available hospital beds, 295 available ventilators and 647 total lab-confirmed patients with COVID-19 in the hospital as of Sunday. Officials said about 68 people being hospitalized are fully vaccinated. The number is small compared to the 699,318 total people who are fully vaccinated in Travis County, according to DSHS vaccine data. (Shutterstock) According to Austin Public Health, there were 79 new hospital admissions for COVID-19 on Monday, which raises Austin-area hospitalizations to 557. About 191 patients are currently in the ICU and 116 are on ventilators. Officials said about 68 people who are hospitalized are fully vaccinated. The number is small compared to the 699,318 total people who are fully vaccinated in Travis County, according to DSHS vaccine data. Walkes said of the people in area hospitals, more than 80 percent are unvaccinated and an additional 3.7 percent are partially vaccinated. On Friday, Austin area hospitals said these hospitalizations have put a strain on health care workers. As a result, Ascension Seton, Baylor Scott & White Health and St. David's HealthCare have issued a plea for Austin Metro residents to get vaccinated. "We urge the community to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their loved ones—and to lessen the burden on our frontline workers who have been fighting this virus for the last year and a half," the hospitals said. "COVID-19 vaccines are the safest and most effective way to end the pandemic. Everyone in our community plays a crucial role in helping us all stay healthy and safe. We encourage every eligible person to get vaccinated so can we stop this virus from spreading." To respond to that growing crisis, APH said they're opening an isolation facility. It is not clear what facility the health authority plans to use. "We have a 50 bed capacity that will come online pretty soon here," Dr. Adrienne Sturrup, the manager of the Health Equity Unit for APH, said. APH also announced it had been given money from the state to reopen their infusion center. RELATED COVERAGE: Austin ISD Will Require Face Masks For 2021-22 School Year Stage 5 COVID-19 Risk: Austin, Travis County Upgrades Guidelines WilCo Justice Center Courtrooms May Require Face Masks