AUSTIN – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that the Texas Department of State Health Services will deploy additional medical personnel to help hospitals battle the rise in COVID-19 cases.
Last week, Abbott had more than 2,500 medical personnel deployed to help hospitals care for the growing number of COVID-19 patients across the state. The deployment is part of the governor’s plan to take action to mitigate the rise in cases in Texas.
The governor will also launch more COVID-19 antibody infusion centers across the state over the next week.
“Front-line health care workers across our state are working tirelessly to keep Texans healthy and safe,” said Abbott in a statement. “The substantial increase of infusion centers will reduce hospitalizations, and the added medical personnel will help treat COVID-19 patients already in hospitals. Hospitalizations can also be prevented by Texans getting the COVID-19 vaccine. To find a vaccine provider near you, visit covidvaccine.texas.gov.”
According to a release, 2,700 medical personnel will be deployed by the end of this week and DSHS will increase that to at least 5,500 by the end of next week.
The Texas Division of Emergency Management will launch two new regional infusion centers in Beaumont and Odessa by next week. The Odessa location will open Friday and the Beaumont location will open Monday.
DSHS will open COVID-19 antibody infusion centers in Fort Worth and Laredo Friday morning, which will be in addition to several others that launched across the state last week including in Austin, Corpus Christi, Conroe, Harlingen, and Lubbock.
These infusion centers, equipped with Regeneron’s monoclonal antibodies, will treat COVID-19 patients at no cost with therapeutic drugs that can prevent their condition from worsening and requiring hospital care, according to a release. The centers will also help increase bed capacity in hospitals so that resources are available for the most ill patients. Patients must have a referral from a doctor.