What if COVID rates in Dallas hospitals don’t go down? Not much, says Judge Clay Jenkins



[ad_1]

The number of hospital patients battling COVID-19 in north Texas continued to rise on Tuesday, keeping the region on track to see tighter restrictions on businesses and restaurants.

But don’t rely on those new rules enforced, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said.

Echoing local officials statewide, Jenkins said the county and its municipalities were paralyzed from enforcing rules on masks and the number of customers allowed inside businesses because the state was setting those restrictions. And they will continue to face limitations even after a prolonged increase in hospitalizations triggered lower occupancy rates under Governor Greg Abbott’s emergency pandemic rules, which have been updated to last time in October.

Barring more drastic action from Austin, it will be up to the public to turn the tide of the latest wave, Jenkins said Tuesday at a meeting of county commissioners.

“It’s incumbent on all of us to improve ourselves a little,” Jenkins said.

As of Friday, the percentage of inpatients in the 19-county hospital region which includes Dallas and Tarrant counties has risen above 15%. The area stretches east to west from Hunt to Palo Pinto, and north to south from Grayson to Navarro.

If the rate does not drop by Thursday – seven days after the first crossing of a red line set by Abbott – businesses will have to reduce capacity by 75% to 50%, bars will have to close and elective surgeries will be suspended.

Giana Towns helps a customer fill out their information before taking a COVID-19 swab test at Project Unity's free test site at Glendale Mall on Friday, November 13, 2020 in Dallas.  The group sets up test sites in different locations on a daily basis.  (Vernon Bryant // The Dallas Morning News via AP)

As of Tuesday, the hospitalization rate stood at 16.43%, according to state data.

Hospital officials told Dallas County Commissioners the number of people hospitalized was approaching near levels not seen since the summer surge. Dallas County had 806 confirmed COVID-19 patients in local hospitals, just three fewer than its high watermark in July.

Unlike the summer, however, the whole country is suffering under the weight of the coronavirus, which leaves no room for the health system to move nurses and doctors to various hot spots.

“People are exhausted. People have been participating since March, ”said Steve Love, CEO of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council. “Our workforce is the resource that concerns us most.”

Dallas County officials are also increasingly concerned that small rural hospitals in North Texas are running out of intensive care beds.

Since the spring, local officials in Lone Star State have been wondering how to enforce Abbott’s emergency orders and convey good public health practices to a restless public.

In El Paso, one of the hardest hit areas in Texas, the county judge tried unsuccessfully to shut down non-essential businesses. In Tarrant County, Republican Judge Glen Whitley faced intense pressure to end a local mask term.

Doctors examine a CT scan of the lungs at a hospital in Xiaogan, China.

Part of the problem with enforcing state rules, officials say, is that a warning is needed first.

The city of Dallas has issued nearly 6,200 warnings since March, according to city records, but only 37 official citations.

“It has been months since there have been actual written quotes,” said Catherine Cuellar, the city’s spokesperson. “And those quotes were largely about categories of operating businesses that weren’t allowed to be open, like bars and lounges.”

There were 190 municipal inspections related to COVID-19 in November, but no citation has been issued.

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson last month pleaded with residents to avoid large gatherings on Thanksgiving.

He said in a statement Tuesday that while it will be “essential” for businesses to comply with the possible rule change, he again stressed the importance of being responsible.

“We need our communities to heed public health advice by wearing masks, practicing social distancing and avoiding gatherings with people who do not live in their homes,” Johnson said. “Without this personal responsibility, actions taken by business or any other level of government will not be as effective in slowing the alarming spread of COVID-19.”

The latest increase in the number of cases in the country has been largely attributed to the spread in occasional private settings. The country’s top doctors said after Thanksgiving that people who gathered in a large group should assume they had contracted the virus and quarantine them.

Federal health officials also leaned on Abbott last week to increase targeted testing and reduce the number of people congregating inside.

Meanwhile, health officials here are still pushing Abbott to shut down dining rooms, bars and gyms to stop the spread, which he has resisted.

Emily Williams Knight, CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association, said the state’s regional approach to COVID-19 restrictions continues to be appropriate and encouraged North Texans to visit their local favorites even after declining occupancy rates.

“People need to bend over. If you don’t feel comfortable eating, eat on the patio, ”she says. “Or, if it’s cold like today, buy a gift card, hit the pavement. Restaurants need support more than ever. “

Knight said his organization estimated 200,000 restaurant workers were still out of work. A further cut would be devastating, not only for employees and their families, but also for local governments that depend on tax revenues and other restaurant-related industries.

His organization works to ensure that restaurant workers are among the first to get vaccinated.

“You can’t feed Texans without restaurants,” she says.

Writer Everton Bailey Jr. contributed to this report.

[ad_2]

Source link