This Houston hospital is the perfect epitome of how the coronavirus is escalating :: WRAL.com

Miguel Marquez, Jay Croft, Carolyn Bessette, CNN

CNN — In June, Houston’s United Memorial Medical Center was overwhelmed by a pandemic, turning two wings into a Covid-19 ward.

There are three now.

Dr. Joseph Baron, Chief Medical Officer, had no holidays as the virus struck a few months ago.

He hasn’t done it yet.

At the time, ICU nurse Tanna Ingraham believes she was fighting her own illness after getting sick from her patient.

She recovered, but then got it again. “It’s like hell,” she says of 2020.

From bad to bad, this hospital is the perfect epitome of how the disease is spreading despite the nationwide deployment of vaccines.

“The next six weeks will be the darkest week in modern American medical history,” says Baron. “We are at Christmas time when people are not listening.”

The incident is exploding throughout Texas. According to Johns Hopkins University, the 7-day average of positive cases is at record levels, with an average of over 16,000 new cases per day. This average is up 15% compared to last week.

Lone Star is upset

About 40% of Covid-19 patients in hospitals come from other parts of the state involved in a pandemic.

Walter Cuellar was moved from western Texas, about 500 miles away. He thinks he and his wife picked up the virus in the supermarket. She had mild symptoms. He is being treated today, but when he arrived he was mostly on ventilator.

“There are a lot of people who don’t wear masks where I live,” he says. “I often go to the store with my wife, but only my wife and I wore masks, and others didn’t wear masks at all.”

Buri Smith, in collaboration with international students, recently moved to Columbus, about 73 miles west of Houston. The three wives and mother also believe they were infected with the virus while shopping.

“This is the worst I’ve ever felt in my life,” Smith says. “Pain and pain.”

According to Baron, the patient is now ill after waiting a long time for medical care.

“Our average patient spent about 20 days before symptoms appeared,” he says. In the past few months, hospitals have used a variety of means to treat their illness.

Richard Gonzalez thought he could do it, so he resisted going to the hospital for a week. He has two jobs, a wife and five children, and I don’t know how he got the virus.

“I got a little messed up. The symptom I got was that I should have gone to the hospital or ER right away when I got it, but I didn’t. I thought it would be gone I lay down on the bed. “

“It seems we have been forgotten.”

Frustration continues to grow for Baron and his staff.

“Even if I give them holy water, it will be difficult for them to get better,” says Barong.

Baron, who has a car license plate called “Covid Hunter” and says the same thing, first gave the Modana vaccine on Monday to ensure that the vaccine is safe to staff and most minority communities. I got it.

First aid captain Dr. John Okeleke was also vaccinated. He is black and states that it is important for minorities to seek treatment and be vaccinated when they become available.

Okereke says doctors are “ecstatic” about vaccination.

“When you watch on TV, you really don’t know what the doctor is experiencing,” he says. “You don’t know what we are experiencing. Sometimes we are really afraid to get sick.”

The vaccine couldn’t come at a better time. According to the COVID Tracking Project, the number of hospitalized patients was 10,000 as of Monday and continues to grow across the state. This is a level that has not been seen since July.

According to Johns Hopkins, Texas has recorded a total of 113,049 new Covid-19 cases in the last seven days. This is the sum of the second highest states after California.

Ingraham, a nurse, says she is stressed by the ongoing fight against the disease and has a message about the sacrifices she and others have suffered in the hospital.

“It’s like we don’t exist,” she says. “I am aware that we are still here and take care of those who are endangering my life, those who are endangering the lives of my children, and the lives of my mother.

“Literally, we feel like we’re forgotten.”