Texas Baby Sick With COVID Had To Be Airlifted 150 Miles To An Available Hospital Bed

11-month-old girl with COVID-19 had to be airlifted from Houston to an available hospital bed 150 miles away amid an overwhelming lack of resources as cases of the delta-variant coronavirus are skyrocketing in Texas.

“She needed to be intubated immediately because she was having seizures,” Patricia Darnauer, administrator of Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Houston, told ABC-6 TV. “We looked at the top five pediatric hospital groups” in Houston and “none” had suitable beds available, she said.

Harris Health System, which includes LBJ Hospital, shared videos and photos of the baby being transported to an air ambulance. She receives treatment at Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Medical Center in Temple.

Harris President and CEO Esmaeil Porsa said on Wednesday the system was already “in crisis mode” with a critical shortage of staff and beds amid an increase in COVID-19 cases.

More than 50% of patients in the intensive care units at LBJ Hospital have COVID, which is a “huge burden,” Porsa told KHOU-11. The wait time for hospital emergency treatment was 24 hours.

Houston pediatrician Christina Propst said the situation with the airlifted baby underscores the dire situation facing young people amid the surge in delta cases, ABC-13 reported.

“Emergency rooms at major children’s hospitals here in Houston, the world’s largest medical center, are extremely crowded,” Propst said. “They fill up, otherwise [already] full – just like hospitals and intensive care units. “

The delta variant of COVID affects more children and does so more seriously, she warned.

Respiratory syncytial virus, which affects children, is also on the rise in the region, and this time of year tends to lead to more pediatric physical injuries such as fractures from outdoor activities.

“We have many patients, many patients, every day,” Darnauer said. “We are back beyond our pre-pandemic volumes at LBJ.”

Propst advised anyone who can get the vaccine to do so, and said children should wear masks. More than 90% of people admitted to Texas hospitals with COVID are not vaccinated. Since children under 12 cannot yet be vaccinated, masks are their best protection.

“If the children don’t hide in schools, that will be a major problem,” Propst warned.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R), meanwhile, signed an executive order banning mask and vaccine warrants in the state.

“Going forward in Texas there will be no government-imposed closures or mask warrants,” Abbott said Wednesday. “Everyone already knows what to do.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported more than 13,500 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases on Thursday, with 8,130 hospitalizations reported – the highest number of hospitalizations since mid-February. The seven-day moving average for hospitalizations has increased by about 50% statewide, officials reported Wednesday.