Coronavirus: A Texas Medical Center continuing update

[Elderberry]

By Texas Medical Center June 24, 2020

UPDATE | June 24, 2020, 4:25 p.m.: Yesterday, Texas reported 5,489 new cases of COVID-19—another grim record as numbers climb steadily throughout the state. Harris County Public Health is currently reporting 15,419 known active cases in Harris County and Houston combined. During an afternoon news briefing, Mayor Sylvester Turner said the city is reporting 987 new cases and 7 additional deaths today.

“Hospitals are committed to managing capacity so patients get the right care at the right time for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 medical care. This will help ensure adequate space, staffing and supplies are available for COVID-19 patients,” THA President and CEO Ted Shaw said in the statement. “Through these actions, Texas hospitals have been and will continue to nimbly manage increasing patient volumes as they occur in certain areas of the state. Hospitals are anchors in Texas communities and always are ready to respond to the unique needs of the people they serve.”

A new study suggests widespread under-diagnoses through March

A new study published Monday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, suggests that more than 8.7 million Americans may have had COVID-19 in March, with as many as 80 percent of those cases going undiagnosed. The researchers drew their conclusions based on data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about patients presenting with influenza-like illness (ILI). The authors wrote that, “As the seasonal surge of endemic non-influenza respiratory pathogens declined toward the later weeks in March, this excess ILI correlated more strongly with state-level patterns of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, suggesting that this surge is a reflection of ILI due to SARS-CoV-2.”

UPDATE | June 23, 2020, 2:34 p.m.: As hospitals grapple with the troubling rise in coronavirus cases in Houston and Harris County, Texas Children’s Hospital is now admitting adult patients to help alleviate the load at other hospitals across the city.

“Yes, Texas Children’s is admitting adult patients,” the statement read. “Texas Children’s Hospital, our employees, medical staff and leadership team continue to carefully monitor the ongoing active transmission and increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the greater Houston area and across the State. We are committed to doing our part to assist the city as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise.”

More: https://www.tmc.edu/news/2020/06/coronavirus-connection-a-texas-medical-center-continuing-update/