The Houston region set a record Saturday for the number of COVID-19 patients needing intensive care, hospital records show, though the total number of admitted patients declined for the third straight day.
In the 25-county region anchored by Harris County, 1,136 COVID patients were in ICU beds, according to the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council database, a 11 percent jump from Friday. The total number hospitalized with the virus fell to 3,727.
Health experts and public health officials are pleased by the leveling off of hospitalizations in the past week. The figure remains high, and will need to come down significantly if flailing contract tracing efforts are to improve. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo are calling for a second stay-home period to bring the virus back under control.
There are still troubling signs, however. The Texas Medical Center remains above its 100 percent base ICU capacity because of COVID patients.
Texas set a record Saturday for COVID hospitalizations with 10,658. The state reported 753 deaths in the past week, its worst seven-day stretch since the pandemic arrived in the state in March.
Galveston County reported seven deaths on Saturday, its highest single-day total of the pandemic.
