Texas Governor Requests Use of Military Hospital for El Paso Covid-19 Surge
Posted on October 24, 2020
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is requesting the use of a military hospital to deal with a massive surge in Covid-19 cases in El Paso county. The hospital would be used to house non-Covid-19 patients and free up space for more patients in over-capacity hospitals.
The following statement was released:
The Governor and Dr. Kadlec discussed the need to expand hospital capacity in El Paso given the recent surge in positive cases and hospitalizations in the area. Governor Abbott asked Dr. Kadlec to authorize the use of the William Beaumont Army Medical Center on Fort Bliss to house non-COVID patients to free up beds in El Paso-area hospitals for COVID patients.
Texas has terrible Covid-19 numbers due in a large part to its early reopening at the start of the summer and an anti-mask sentiment in parts of the state. Texas also recently allowed bars to reopen which are known for helping to spread the virus quickly. Cases have been surging in the state the past couple weeks. El Paso county is seeing by far the biggest spike in cases.
An ABC 7 report says El Paso hospitals have seen a massive 203% increase in Covid-19 patients over the past two weeks. The positivity rate is 14.88%.
This report from ABC News by Matt Gutman reports on El Paso hospitals and funeral homes pushed to the brink because of the huge surge.