Just last week, Lubbock had no hospital beds available due to a high rate of COVID-19 patients. Now its trauma service region is the latest to lift high hospitalization restrictions.
Less than 15% of all hospital patients in Lubbock’s 22-county trauma service region have been sick with COVID-19 for the past week. This means the region can get out from under some restrictions outlined in an order from Gov. Greg Abbott that was intended to slow the spread of the virus in hard-hit areas.
Lubbock restaurants can now operate at 75% capacity and elective medical procedures can resume, Mayor Dan Pope said at Wednesday’s weekly COVID-19 news conference. Bars that did not reclassify as a restaurant earlier in the pandemic can open at 50% capacity.
Pope said it is a good development for local business, but healthcare workers are likely the most relieved. Hospitalizations have dropped significantly after peaking in November. Lubbock has experienced a high rate of COVID patients since the middle of October. As of Tuesday, 102 patients were hospitalized with the virus.
Pope announced that support from state entities will continue to be in Lubbock for now, including the hospital surge site opened last week. But the mobile medical units dispatched to the two hospital systems in November will soon be sent elsewhere.
“That’s a good sign,” Pope said. “That means that we’ve got our legs back underneath us, so to speak.”
At the Jan. 27 news conference, Pope predicted the city would not be at this point until the end of February.
Lubbock’s Health Authority Dr. Ron Cook attributed the decrease in hospitalizations to efforts in the community to lessen the spread of the coronavirus. Antibody therapies like bamlanivimab and regeneron that have been given to COVID-positive people who are at a higher risk of requiring hospitalization have also helped keep people out of healthcare facilities, the physician said.
The Amarillo region is expected to also be able to lift restrictions on Wednesday. The Laredo and El Paso areas continue to see some of the highest rates of COVID hospitalizations in the state. Over 10,800 Texans are hospitalized with the disease, according to data from Texas Health and Human Services.
New cases of COVID-19 are down in Lubbock as vaccination efforts continue. Over 675 county citizens have died from the disease since March 2020.
Have a news tip? Email Sarah Self-Walbrick at saselfwa@ttu.edu. Follow her reporting on Twitter @SarahFromTTUPM.
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