Health system administrators and medical professionals around Texas expressed dismay about a decision by Republican Governor Greg Abbott to reopen the state without any restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, NBC News reports.
Health care professionals worry about the toll a potential new wave of hospital admissions could have on the already-exhausted staffs of facilities. Within the past three weeks, the levels of infection in Texas are at the lowest they have been since October, but they’ve seen a spike in the last ten days.
“We have the capacity to take care of more patients,” Dr. James McDeavitt of the Baylor College of Medicine told NBC News. “We have an ample supply of PPE. That means a lot. The more difficult problem is that while many people in Texas experienced the pandemic in waves, there’s been no respite for front-line health care providers. The biggest issue now is morale. Many health care providers fear this could extend the pandemic.”
While the hospitals say they now have enough PPE, ventilators and room capacity to deal with a slight increase in infections, they’re not certain they have the manpower capable to handle a spike.
“Our staff is tired and we’re still in the midst of a third surge,” Houston Methodist President and CEO Dr. Marc Boom said. “Now, everybody is contemplating a fourth surge of infections. … Give us 90 to 120 more days and the world will look a lot better. Wearing a mask may not be mandated, but it’s a personal responsibility as the governor himself said. And we are urging people to continue wearing their masks.”
Abbott may have other than public health issues as motivation to open up the economy, as Texas dealt with a major statewide power outage just three weeks ago and significant areas of the state do not have clean water supplies.