AUSTIN, Texas — A spokesperson for the three largest hospital systems in the Austin area said on Tuesday that less than 30% of hospital beds are available.
As more beds fill up, Austin Public Health is preparing a field hospital at the Austin Convention Center just in case hospitals reach capacity.
Nim Kidd, the chief of the Texas Department of Emergency Management, joined KVUE on Wednesday to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic.
Question: To simplify, your job is just like it sounds – to manage and deal with emergencies in the state. What is the greatest emergency right now regarding COVID-19?
Answer: So, Mike, I think the thing we need to keep pushing out is the proper information for people to go and get a COVID-19 test. At texas.gov/covid19, there's an interactive map that will give you the instructions at each of the 960 testing locations that are open across the state of Texas, getting that information out to the public about hours of operation, number of tests per day and then any requirements before you get in line. We've heard stories about people who have gotten in line only to get up to the front of the line and find out that they needed a registration test, or they needed a doctor's note, or that they needed to have a place in line before they got there. Help me drive people to that website that gives the locations of these tests, the hours of operation and any of the requirements before they get a test.
Question: Update us on testing. I understand labs are backed up statewide and the state will start using a different type of test. Tell us what kind and how available it will be.
Answer: Yeah, so a couple of things about laboratories – there are many types of labs in the state of Texas. The Department of State Health Services has one lab here in Austin. There are local public health labs across the state. Hospitals have some of their own laboratories. Some of our major universities and health care centers have laboratories, but the bulk of the laboratory network across the state and the nation is held in the private hands. So those labs are also the same labs we are working with now in Texas. We built a capacity out of our state agencies and state universities, with a few of the private sectors to get lab capacity for our multiple testing teams. Out of the 960 sites across the state today, 24 of those are managed by our organization. We're using our own network of labs to send our tests and we're seeing about a two-, three-day turnaround on those. When we get into the other private sector partners and health care, it's a mixed bag of which labs they use. So we're trying to help coordinate with them and make sure that we're load balancing across so that we don't have long wait times.
Question: The vice president announced last week that Austin has the highest positivity rate in the nation, with Houston, Dallas and San Antonio also in the top five. What did Texas do wrong to get there?
Answer: So, Mike, I think the thing that went wrong, if that's what we're trying to find, is people let their guard down. We saw many milestone events, whether it was opening businesses or the holidays and graduations and graduation parties and Memorial Day and Mother's Day. And when we started bringing families together, once people got back, they quit wearing masks; they quit social distancing; they quit washing their hands as much, and that's why we're seeing the disease spread. Go do those simple things. If you're going to be outside, please wear a mask; wash your hands frequently; try to limit yourself and the number of people that you're with; try to keep groups as small as absolutely possible. And that's not just with strangers; we see a lot of times that it's within families.
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