The nation’s largest pediatric hospital is now admitting adult patients to help amid the coronavirus outbreak in Houston, according to a local report.
Texas Children’s Hospital is accepting adults as the COVID-19 outbreak affects the city’s healthcare system, according to Dallas-based Fox 4.
The number of patients hospitalized for coronavirus in Harris County, which includes Houston, has nearly tripled since the beginning of the month, the newspaper reported.
12 TEXAS BARS SUSPEND ALCOHOL PERMITS TO VIOLATE CORONAVIRUS HEALTH PROTOCOLS
Texas Children’s will accept adult coronavirus patients in a special isolation ward and will also treat adult patients for non-COVID-related illnesses, according to the report.
Dr. Shubhada Hooli, a pediatrician and acute care scientist at the center, tweeted that she is “up for the challenge” but asked residents to help stop the spread.
“Please help us,” he wrote. “#WearAMask and stay home”.
With the state working toward its incremental economic reopening, Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the recent increase in cases “unacceptable” on Monday night.
‘ABBOTT OF TEXAS CALLS FOR LAST STATE INCREASE IN COVID-19 CASES’ UNACCEPTABLE ‘
“COVID-19 is now spreading at an unacceptable rate in the state of Texas, and must be cornered,” he said. “We have several strategies to reduce the spread without closing Texas again, but it is up to all of us to do our part to protect ourselves and others.”
He stressed that he wants “all Texans” to follow state health guidelines to try to suppress the spread of the virus.
These include staying home when you are sick or at risk, rigorously cleaning your hands, maintaining social distance, and wearing masks or masks in public.
“COVID-19 is not gone, but neither is our ability to stop its spread,” he said.
And on Tuesday, it expanded local government control over health-related rules for outdoor gatherings within their jurisdictions, lowering the threshold from 500 to 100 people.
“These are just some of the steps Texas will take to contain the increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations,” he said.
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Texas has seen more than 120,000 reported cases of the coronavirus, more than 2,000 deaths, and an estimated more than 70,000 recoveries, according to the state health department.
Harris County has reported the highest number with more than 23,000 cases. Dallas County ranks second with just under 18,000.
