Houston Baby with Covid Airlifted 150 miles in Search of Bed
A baby girl suffering from acute Covid symptoms had to be airlifted 150 miles because of a hospital bed shortage in Houston. Eleven-month-old Ava Amira Rivera was suffering seizures when she was transported to Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Medical Center in Temple on Thursday for lack of pediatric beds in Houston. Ava had to be intubated but has reportedly since been taken off a breathing machine and is “looking great” according to the hospital.
Her story underscores the recent spike in Covid cases and the subsequent surge in hospitalizations and the surge in pediatric cases follows a similar rise in adult Covid, blamed largely on poor vaccination rates in some areas and the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.
As in central Texas, concerns there are concerns in Tennessee that children’s hospitals will soon find themselves at capacity. Cases are also surging in Florida and Louisiana.
On Friday the US returned to averaging 100,000 new daily coronavirus infections for the first time since February.
