11-month-old girl with COVID-19 is airlifted from Houston to hospital 170 miles away in Temple

Houston, texas – An 11-month-old girl with COVID-19 who was having seizures was rushed from a Houston hospital to a hospital 170 miles away in Temple on Thursday, The Associated Press reported.

Harris Health System spokeswoman Amanda Callaway told The Associated Press that the Houston hospital where the young child was initially admitted, Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, does not provide pediatric care for hospitalized patients. Children who come there and need hospitalization are usually transferred.

None of the major pediatric hospitals in the Houston area had beds available, Callaway said.

In a video released by the Harris Health System, the child is seen being transported in a Life Flight helicopter on Thursday before the flight to Temple.

William F. McKeon, CEO of Texas Medical Center, said hospitalizations at the medical complex had “increased by more than 400% in the past month.”

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“Hospitalizations across Texas Medical Center are escalating at a rate we haven’t seen since the highest peak in COVID-19 in the summer of 2020. Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, the majority are younger and unvaccinated, ”McKeon said in a declaration.

As of Thursday, 336 new new COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals at Texas Medical Center. For reference, only 72 new COVID-19 patients were admitted to TMC hospitals on July 7, according to the Texas Medical Center.