Hospitals in Dallas and Tarrant Counties could be full in the next 30 days if hospitalizations keep rising at the same alarming rate, according to .
Report author Rajesh Nandy said he does not expect hospitals to fill up completely, because they can usually make room for more patients 鈥� but that has other consequences.
"Hospitals are also experiencing shortages of staff,鈥� Nandy said. 鈥淪o in the opposite direction, the problem could be that there may be available beds but there may not be enough staff to attend to those beds.鈥�
Local hospital leaders are worried about their exhausted, burnt-out staff. They鈥檝e spent months fighting a new, relentless disease, and the pandemic is so bad that reinforcements are scarce.
Daily case numbers in North Texas keep breaking records, and the region hasn't hit a peak yet, Nandy said.
And whenever there are more cases, a few weeks later, a spike in deaths follows. The report predicts that there will be 2,600 COVID-related deaths in Texas in the next two weeks.
"I would say the single biggest takeaway is things are bad,鈥� Nandy said.
The report has several recommendations 鈥渢o prevent a catastrophic effect on the healthcare system."
- Closing bars and limiting restaurant capacity, because it鈥檚 impossible to wear a mask while eating and drinking
- Avoiding family holiday gatherings like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah
- Limiting shopping trips to what鈥檚 strictly necessary
- Closing gyms and other shared spaces in apartment complexes
- Expanding testing to people who don鈥檛 have any COVID symptoms, to catch outbreaks earlier
People need to stay vigilant until there鈥檚 a vaccine, the report says.
If all else fails, the report recommends another stay-at-home order. Gov. Greg Abbott said last week during a visit to Lubbock that .
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