elective medical procedures in some Texas counties to preserve hospital capacity, including Harris, Dallas and Travis, which is home to the city of Austin. Bexar, where San Antonio is located, also was included in Abbott's order.Matt Patterson | AP
"Across our system, we have about 4,000 beds that we can bring into play" for intensive care, he said. "Right now, only about 30% are being utilized for Covid care, so we still have plenty of capacity for Covid patients as well as patients who need hospitalization for other illnesses." "We're seeing a slightly lower rate in terms of the number of typical hospital bed patients who convert to a need for ICU hospitalization. We're also using ventilators less frequently," he said. "We have more drugs at our disposable that we know help limit the severity and duration of the illness. So overall we're faring better than we did just a couple months ago."