NUECES COUNTY, Texas — Nueces County may be nearing the state mandated hospital threshold, which would push businesses to 50-percent capacity.
"This is a disease which is on its rise," said Dr. Salim Surani with Christus Spohn Health Systems. "We are in the third surge in the community and the country."
While still in the midst of a COVID-19 surge, case numbers and hospitalizations don't seem to be slowing down any time soon.
"The workplace was one of the most common places to contract COVID," said Dr. Chris Bird with the Coastal Bend COVID-19 Task Force. "Be vigilant in your workplace. Maybe that's one place you let your guard down."
There are a number of possible reasons for this, but Bird said places of work seem to be hotspots.
"It's not families. You have groups of people who are getting together, so now you have more exposure," Public Health Director Annette Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said when we see cases rise, we see hospitalizations follow.
"Right now, we're about 12-13 percent [hospitalization rate]," Bird said. "This number changes day-by-day. We were at 16.5-percent earlier this week."
About 12-percent of current hospital beds in Nueces County are being used for COVID-19 patients. Not only does that overwhelm the hospital staff, but businesses could be affected as well.
"Over the last year or so we've been working pretty long hours with little breaks," Dr. Surani said.
"We won't expect businesses to roll back to 50-percent capacity until at least Thursday of next week, and that's the earliest it could happen because it's seven days above this threshold to trigger that," Dr. Bird said.
It's a consequence that counties across the state are dealing with. Dr. Bird said Nueces County is one of the few trauma centers across the state that hasn't had to roll back, but he doesn't expect that to last much longer.
"Based on the counties risk assessment level, we're at a code red," Dr. Bird said. Health experts say the message remains the same for the community -- keep your mask on and keep following all safety precautions.
"Do we expect the capacity to get worse over the next weeks and months?" Dr. Surani said. "Absolutely. Yes."
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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