Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas TribuneHospitals in the Rio Grande Valley sounded the alarm Saturday as their beds filled to capacity with COVID-19 patients and some began transferring patients elsewhere.
The local and Valley hospitals are at full capacity and have no more beds available, Starr County Judge Eloy Vera said in a statement.
Hospitals in Starr County were also transferring patients, with at least two severely ill patients flown to Dallas and San Antonio, Vera added.
As COVID-19 cases have exploded across Texas, health officials in other areas are also expressing concern about hospital capacity.
Greg Abbott, who began allowing Texas businesses to reopen on May 1, expanded his June 25 ban on elective surgeries to counties in South Texas on Tuesday to preserve hospital capacity.