ODESSA, Odessa Oblast — Numbers are high across the board in Odessa, but none are quite as high or alarming as the number of people testing positive for COVID-19.
"We have resulted over 3,000 of those tests and right now it’s coming back at about a 65% positivity rating out of those tests that we performed. So that number is very concerning. It’s very high so it’s about 65%. So out of 3,000 people, 65% of those have come back positive," Russell Tippin, Medical Center Hospital CEO, said.
More cases mean more hospitalizations.
Overflow areas in these hospitals are already in use, but that's quickly becoming an issue as well.
"At Medical Center, we do have an overflow plan in place. We are already utilizing some of that today. We are prepping another 20 to 25 beds just in anticipation of what’s going to happen 10 or 15 days after Thanksgiving just to be prepared," Tippin said.
Just to be prepared, the city has secured a mobile morgue. The city wants to make sure that it isn't overwhelmed when more cases do appear and put an inevitable strain on the hospital system.
The hospitals are expecting another surge in cases. In ORMC's case, they do so in mourning. COVID-19 has hit real close to home on the hospital's staff.
"ORMC has lost a beloved employee to COVID-19 over the weekend. Jaime Lozano was a long time respiratory therapist at the hospital. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers, his family as well as his ORMC family," ORMC President, Stacey Brown said.