Texas Doctors Reveal ‘Overwhelming’ Spike in Young Coronavirus Patients: I Had 3 Beds Open But 10 Calls From People Who Would Likely Die

Doctors in San Antonio’s Methodist Hospital have seen “an explosion of Covid,” they told CNN, especially in younger patients and mothers-to-be — and are beginning to run out of resources.

The weekly percentage of those testing positive for the coronavirus in Bexar County has jumped from 3.6 percent to more than 20 percent in the last month. “We aren’t overrun yet,” Dr. Adam Sahyouni told CNN in a segment airing Monday morning. “But it’s overwhelming.”

NICU Charge Nurse Meagan VanDewark said that five of the 16 beds dedicated to babies born to mothers who have the coronavirus are taken, and she expects the rest to fill up rather quickly. Dr. Kelly Morales explained that 30 percent of mothers are also asymptomatic, making the virus harder to detect.

“The last few weeks has just been overwhelming, is how I would describe it,” Dr. Jeffery DelleVolpe said of the general rise in coronavirus cases.

“There’s been more and more patients than we really know what to do with. The patients are getting younger and they’re more sick… it has gone from probably 50s and 60s for the first wave to — I’ve lost track of how many people in their 20s.”

Sahyouni revealed that all 14 rooms dedicated to coronavirus patients in his unit have been filled and that there is a long list of people waiting to be admitted.

“Yesterday was probably one of my worst days that I’ve ever had,” DelleVolpe added. “I got ten calls, all of whom, young people who otherwise would be excellent candidates to be able to put on ECMO. They’re so sick if they don’t get put on, they don’t get the support, they’re probably going to die. I had three beds. And making that decision, being able to figure out who really is going to benefit, it is a level of decision-making that I don’t think a lot of us are prepared for.”

Methodist Hospital has been keeping patients off of ventilators by using ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a procedure that works to oxygenate the blood in only a few minutes. Despite the success of the procedure, there are simply too many patients in need.

Watch above, via CNN.

Update — July 14, 10:05 a.m. ET: A representative for DelleVolpe told People magazine that the hospital does have bed capacity, and that DelleVolpe was referencing his decision to accept patients from other hospitals in the area: “We still have bed capacity and are currently making even more in preparation for a continued surge. The decisions DellaVolpe is referring to are in regards to accepting patients from other hospitals in other areas.”