The devastating flames of the covid pandemic have left Austin, a city with a population of 2.4 million, with less than 10 ICU beds to attend to the most severely affected patients. The emergency alert was sent by the city administration on Saturday that the pandemic has pushed Austin into a “dire” state.
As per the state health data, only 6 ICU beds and 313 ventilators are available now in the Texas capital.
In a statement released on Saturday, Public Health Medical Director Desmar Walkes said that the situation right now is critical. Warnings of a possible “catastrophe” were emailed, texted and informed through phone calls as well to the local residents during the afternoon in the city to let people know about the “severely stressed” condition of hospitals. “…there is little we can do to alleviate their burden with the surging cases,” he said.
ALSO READ: Immune-boosting drugs for people unprotected from Covid jabs
Just two days before issuing the warning, the city’s health department had increased Austin’s risk level to the delta variant of coronavirus to stage 5, the highest, in view of the rapidly increasing cases. They urged everyone to get inoculated, keep wearing masks even if they are fully vaccinated and stay home as much as possible.
This increase in risk level was preceded by an alarming rise in the 7-day moving average for new hospital admissions. Compared to previous months, this figure had risen up by over 600% in the past month. ICU patients’ admission increased by 570% while covid patients on ventilators jumped to 102 on Saturday from 8 on July 4th.
The health department said the numbers are likely to increase further as infections have already multiplied to 10 times its earlier figures. “Hospital bed availability and critical care are extremely limited in our hospital systems,” Mr Walkes said.
ALSO READ: “Risk Is Not Beyond Us”, ECDC; EU Urges Netizens To Get Vaccinated Soon
Not just Austin but most of the country is battling a new and stronger blow of covid-19 as the US is recording over 100,000 cases every single day. According to John Hopkins and Bloomberg’s combined reports, these trends are strikingly similar to those seen 6 months ago with weekly cases surpassing 750,000- the highest since February this year.
The situation is getting worse despite people coming forward to get vaccinated. Fatality rates are following suit with August witnessing more than double daily death counts when compared to July. Shockingly, last winter, the worst times of covid, too, did not see such death rates. This has fueled the fears of deadlier mutations.
Florida and Texas are accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the total cases in the US, Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, said this week. As a state, Texas has only 439 ICU beds and 6,991 ventilators available with a population of nearly 29 million people.
