WACO, Texas — There are no ICU beds left in McLennan County, according to the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District.
The hospitalization rate has reached 18%, compared to around 1% back in June. Kelly Craine, a spokesperson for the health district, said there is reason for concern.
“There are 112 people in the hospital due to COVID and these are hospitals in McLennan County," she said.
According to the county's COVID-19 website, there are 70 ventilators available with 39 in use. Out of those in use, 14 were used for COVID-19.
She says that each hospital in the county has their own contingency plan, but they will assist in any way possible.
"We do meet with the hospitals on a weekly basis just to discuss what's going on and see what their needs are and what their concerns are," she said. "The hospitalizations rise, the rate of people needing ventilators rise, that's concerning, you never want to see that. When they’re in hospitals, they’re on ventilators, that becomes a risk that we’re gonna see fatalities increase.”
As schools in the county begin to return to the classroom, she said that there is concern that these numbers will continue to rise. The health district is encouraging vaccinations as much as possible.
“Honestly, the solution is a very simple solution," she said. "That’s vaccinations. When people are fully vaccinated, they are less likely, 98% chance they aren’t going to get COVID at all, if there is, that 1% there is a breakthrough, they are less likely to even need to be hospitalized or have strong symptoms. They might be over it in a couple of days and not have any symptoms.”
She said there are currently mobile vaccination clinics that are visiting restaurants and schools. The health district is also hosting vaccination clinics throughout the county this weeks with the goal of getting more residents vaccinated.