NUECES COUNTY, Texas — The virus continues to spread throughout the Coastal Bend. People are not only worried to hear about it, but they are also wondering what would happen if they were to get sick and have to go to the hospital. Will there be a bed for them?
Hilary Watt is the Executive Director of the Coastal Bend Regional Advisory Council; she heads up the non-profit agency, which she describes as the air traffic controller of our healthcare systems.
"Some of our hospitals have dedicated floors or units as I see used specifically for this, so they are taking up a certain amount of ICU beds," Watt said. "We are almost at capacity in the City of Corpus Christi right now. As far as I see, beds are a concern, but trust that if you are sick and you need to go to the hospital, you will be seen at the hospital."
Watt is in charge of the South Texas area and works with 44 hospitals along with about 200 EMS agencies. She tells 3News that the biggest problem our hospitals are facing right now is a lack of nurses.
"We have contacted the state and through contracted agencies, they have provided appropriate nurses to come and help staff the ICUs," Watt added.
Another concern many people have is if we have enough medicines on hand to treat COVID-19. Word out of Midland is that they're running low on remdesivir, which is one of the drugs used to treat the virus.
"There has been some remdesivir procured by the state of Texas and it was provided to several hospitals," Watt said. "I believe 15 hospitals throughout the state, and the decision process there was because of the case count they had and the severity of the patients and whether they felt that was the right course of treatment."
So far, our local hospitals are not reporting that they are running low on any medicines to treat COVID-19. The county health department has been waiting for supplies from the state to be able to continue its public testing.
Our Health Director Annette Rodriguez said the state is sending enough supplies to test another 300 people. However, there's still no timetable on when those supplies will make it here. This means the county is out of the public testing business for now.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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