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TEXAS – Hospital workers across the state prepare for the potential for another crisis as COVID patients begin to refill intensive care units. Austin city guides announced on Friday a transition to level 4 of the risk-based COVID-19 recommendations and reported a more than 200% increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions since July 4th, companies are also addressing their own issues.
What you need to know
- Cases of COVID-19 have skyrocketed in Texas and across the country as the Delta variant spreads freely
- Austin-Travis County returned to Level 4 of its risk-based COVID-19 guidelines on Friday
- Health experts say that while virus cases have increased dramatically, there has been no similar demand for vaccines
- Some Texas hospitals are preparing to reopen COVID intensive care units
The new normal at Zamora Medical Center treats roadside patients. Doctors at the GP’s private practice in East Austin wear head-to-toe PPE and hike outdoors to see anyone with possible COVID-19 symptoms. The door always remains locked and can only be opened by an employee with a key.
Patients drove to the main entrance and waited for their treatment. A woman got a COVID test and exam outside while we were there with our cameras.
Dr. Guadalupe Zamora says these visits are currently the order of the day; His vaccination dates are now roughly the same.
“For the past year we have seen five to ten positive patients a day,” said Dr. Zamora. “Now we’re seeing three or four a day again, positives, and that’s why we went to phase 4.”
The Dallas area is not as exposed to risk as Austin, but hospitals are seeing the same increase in COVID patients.
Spectrum News 1 spoke to Dr. Joseph Chang, Chief Medical Officer of Parkland Health and Hospital System, on a Zoom call. He says while the total number of COVID patients is not as high as it was before, the rate at which they are increasing is unprecedented.
“About four weeks ago we had seven patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and now we have 45,” said Dr. Chang.
He says his staff recently celebrated the closure of four of their five COVID intensive care units and now he’s discussing the possibility of having to reopen some of them.
“To see our vaccine numbers have plateaued and these cases return is daunting to say the least,” he said.
Overall, most cities report that more than 90% of these new COVID cases affect unvaccinated people, and the few cases of the vaccinated are very mild and do not require hospitalization, which is the main public health problem.
Dr. Chang says he has been able to count the number of people vaccinated on one hand of all Parkland’s COVID patients since January. Nevertheless, health experts are now calling on those who have been vaccinated to wear masks again in public places.
In a virtual press conference on Friday, Austin medical leaders said there is still a risk that vaccinated people may have COVID without knowing it and spreading it to the unvaccinated. This is because most cities have not yet achieved hearing protection immunity because not enough people are vaccinated.
And while city guides urge the public to wear masks, they fail to enforce it, so businesses are in charge.
Waterloo Records in Austin reintroduced its mask mandate last week. Store manager Jessy Schwartz hopes more companies are doing the same.
“We watched the numbers and saw hospital admissions go up,” she said. “Unvaccinated people go maskless and we just felt that this was a safer way of doing things.”
For now, this will remain the norm for companies and doctors who say they are trying to do their part to save hospitals from another crisis. The answer scream from scientists, health professionals and medical staff: Get vaccinated. As simple as that.
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