Mississippi’s capital city is out of ICU beds as COVID-19 surges, health official says
A surge in coronavirus cases has left no available ICU beds in Jackson, Mississippi, with “very few” available elsewhere in the state, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said Thursday.
Dobbs gave an update on the availability of hospital beds in Mississippi as the state battles a new wave of COVID-19.
As of Thursday, the state reported 1,271 new confirmed cases and 17 deaths, pushing the state’s coronavirus case total over 130,600, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health. The virus has also caused more than 3,500 deaths across the Magnolia State.
State health officials have warned that coronavirus hospitalizations are on track to reach “crisis levels” in Mississippi, signaling a grave repeat of what the state saw earlier this year.
“If we don’t make changes immediately, we’ll see critical shortages of first-line care for the seriously ill and injured,” state health officials said. “We know what works: social distancing, small gatherings, and masks.”
ICU bed availability is also waning at several hospitals in coastal Mississippi. Here is the latest data:
- Memorial Hospital in Gulfport: 2 available adult ICU beds, 11 COVID-19 patients currently in ICU
- Merit Health Biloxi: 0 available adult ICU beds, 1 COVID-19 patient currently in ICU
- Singing River Health System (Pascagoula): 9 available adult ICU beds, 8 COVID-19 patients currently in ICU
- Garden Park Medical Center (Gulfport): 3 available adult ICU beds, 4 COVID-19 patient currently in ICU
As of Thursday, only 106 (or 11.9%) of Mississippi’s 888 adult ICU beds are available for infected patients, state data show.