“We want the people of North Texas to please not panic regarding the COVID-19 virus,” said Love. “The virus has created increased hospitalizations over the past two weeks, but we have capacity in North Texas in our hospitals.”
As of Wednesday, the state reports that the health region of the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area has 1,130 COVID-19 patients hospitalized. Love said that about 35 percent of those are in ICU beds.
The region — “Trauma Service Area E” by the Department of State Health Service’s labeling — includes 19 counties: Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Erath, Fannin, Grayson, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant, and Wise.
According to data from DSHS, the number of coronavirus hospitalizations in the region has roughly doubled since the end of May. Prior to that, the number of hospitalizations had remained relatively steady, with a slight increase in late April and a slight decrease in mid-May.
The number of daily reported new cases by DSHS has followed a similar trend, though was likely affected by a steady increase in the number of tests conducted.
Dallas and Tarrant counties account for the largest share of active estimated cases in the DFW area: about 5,700 and 4,400, respectively. Denton and Collin counties also make up significant portions of the total at around 1,100 and 900 cases, respectively.
But even with the rising numbers, Love notes that COVID-19 patients make up a small portion of the overall capacity that the hospital system is prepared to handle.
“The COVID-19 patients hospitalized represent less than 10 percent of our hospitalized patients,” said Love. “While we acknowledge the COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased recently, we currently have over 5,200 available beds within our North Texas trauma service area, running approximately 69 percent hospital occupancy rate.”
Love has reportedly said that no hospital in the DFW system has had to resort to its surge plans yet.
“We all need to work together to slow the COVID-19 virus spread and at the same time keep our economy open,” said Love. “Some individual actions would be to wear facial coverings in public, wash your hands frequently, utilize social distancing, and practice good personal hygiene. We are all in this together and if we do our part, we will prevail.”
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said on Thursday that the DFW Hospital Council and Dallas County did not want to prepare the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center to be used as a temporary hospital at this time.
“They believe they are capable of handling a COVID-19 hospitalization surge in their existing medical facilities,” said Johnson.
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Daniel Friend
Daniel Friend is the Marketing and Media Manager for The Texan. After graduating with a double-major in Political Science and Humanities, he wrote for The Texan as a reporter through June 2022. In his spare time, you're likely to find him working on The Testimony of Calvin Lewis, an Abolition of Man-inspired novel and theatrical podcast.
