A note sent to staff at Houston’s Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital on Sunday reveals a chaotic scene as the facility grappled with a surge in coronavirus cases. Obtained by NBC News and ProPublica, the internal message explains how the public hospital ran out of beds and key drugs while several patients in critical condition were left to wait in the emergency room.

Another memo, circulated amongst the staff of the Houston Methodist hospital on Monday, reveals a similar situation, with officials considering drastic measures to make space for patients with the novel coronavirus.

“It has become necessary to consider delaying more surgical services to create further capacity for COVID-19 patients,” Dr. Robert Phillips said in the memo.

Texas has been one of the states experiencing a resurgence of coronavirus cases in recent weeks, after the state once attempted to become one of the first to allow numerous businesses to reopen. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator, has stated that Texas and Florida are the states that have been hit hardest by these new waves of infection. Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday also admitted that the state moved too fast when reopening certain businesses.

According to hospital admittance data from the Houston region, over 3,000 patients have been admitted with COVID-19 as of Tuesday, with numbers quadrupling since around Memorial Day. This includes around 800 patients in need of intensive care.

“To tell you the truth, what worries me is not this week, where we’re still kind of handling it,” said Roberta Schwartz, Houston Methodist’s chief innovation officer. “I’m really worried about next week.”

The volume of patients in Houston has reached such catastrophic levels that the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, a specialized medical facility not known for taking patients with other maladies, plans to begin taking cancer patients who also have the coronavirus to help other hospitals make space.

Long lines of cars stretch around the corner at the COVID-19 drive-through testing site at Houston's United Memorial Medical Center, as coronavirus cases in Texas surge.
Long lines of cars stretch around the corner at the COVID-19 drive-through testing site at Houston's United Memorial Medical Center, as coronavirus cases in Texas surge. AFPTV / Kacey Cherry
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