Latest COVID-19 surge brings back long lines at Dallas County testing sites
DALLAS - Another indicator of just how bad the current COVID-19 surge is getting is the sudden long lines for testing at the Ellis Davis Field House in southern Dallas.
Extra police were called in to direct traffic on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, hospitalizations continue to grow. They are now exceeding 2,500 COVID-19 patients in North Texas. The area is now back to as many people hospitalized as there were at the start of February.
A rise in hospitalizations normally comes after a rise in positive tests. Testing sites are still seeing more and more people showing up infected.
RELATED: Dallas County mask mandate starts Thursday due to COVID-19 Delta variant outbreak
Hospitals are feeling the burden of COVID-19’s delta surge.
There are more than 2,500 people in North Texas hospitals and just two pediatric ICU beds in our 19-county region.
JPS in Fort Worth is announcing it is postponing elective surgeries starting next week.
The state says its ready to start recruiting 2,500 staffers to help hospitals.
Tuesday, the state's chief emergency manager said reinforcements should be arriving by the weekend. It's a reversal from the position the state took last week when it denied hospitals' requests for help.
Meanwhile, COVID testing sites are quickly crowding.
At Ellis Davis Field House, extra police were called in Wednesday morning to help with traffic.
At some CVS locations, it’s taking 2-4 days to get an appointment for a test.
There’s no appointment required at the Neighborhood Medical Center drive-thru site in North Dallas.
When FOX 4 visited a few weeks ago, they were seeing roughly 150 people a day. Now, it’s 400 plus and no signs of slowing.
"I think what’ happened is we can see now how the virus spreads. You can see the curve," said Neighborhood Medical Center Dr. Martin McElya. "You can see how its moving through the community very rapidly because we’ve kind of hit a point where it’s so pronounced. It’s just traveling all over the place."
Now, nearly one in five tests comes back positive.
"I personally think we’re on an upswing, and the upswing is going to continue for at least a few weeks," Dr. Mcelya said. "I have no idea what’s going to happen when the cold weather comes in and the kids go back to school. It’s just a recipe for disaster."
FOX reached out to some hospitals that have dealt with staffing shortages to find out if they've heard reinforcements are coming.
A Parkland Hospital spokesperson did not yet know.
A JPS Hospital official said they're checking on it.
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