The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment in Tarrant County has more than doubled in a few weeks, the county's health data shows.
On June 1, there were 172 hospitalized coronavirus patients. By June 15, that number rose to 220.
On Monday, there were 550 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, according to Tarrant County health officials.
Though hospitals are not yet full, the trend has medical leaders concerned.
“We would be overwhelmed very soon if that keeps going,” said Rajesh Nandy, an epidemiology professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.
Hospitals can prepare for a "worst-case scenario," but people "should also behave responsibly" to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
"If the growth rate is like what we had last week, no increase in capacity would be able to keep up with that alarming growth rate," he said.
There were 700 coronavirus patients in North Texas hospitals on June 15, but now there are more than 1,600, said Stephen Love, the president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council.
"As we model out where we predict we could be, in two to three weeks, we could really be with a large hospitalization of COVID 19," Love said.
But, Love said, D-FW hospitals aren't full yet.
MedStar spokesman Matt Zavadsky said the ambulance call volume has increased in recent weeks.
“We just hope that people in our community will do everything they can to preserve that hospital capacity for people that really need it and they can do that by following the recommendations for social distancing and wearing a mask," Zavadsky said.
More on WFAA:
- VERIFY: Cases of the bubonic plague appeared in China, but bubonic plague cases happen every year
- 239 scientists: Coronavirus can spread through air; urge WHO to acknowledge
- COVID-19 updates: Dallas County reports more than 1,000 cases for 4th day
- ICE says foreign students can't take online-only classes amid pandemic