No Hospital Bed For 150 Miles For Baby With COVID

In an example of the summer surge in COVID cases wreaking havoc in pockets of the US, a baby girl suffering from acute COVID symptoms had to be airlifted 150 miles because of a hospital bed shortage in Houston. Per KXAN, the 11-month-old named 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.

While the seriousness of Ana's condition is uncommon for young kids, her story underscores the recent spike in COVID cases and the subsequent surge in hospitalizations, per CNN. The surge in pediatric cases follows a similar uptick 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 have recently arisen in Tennessee that children's hospitals will soon find themselves at capacity. Cases are also surging in Florida and Louisiana. Just yesterday, the US returned to averaging 100,000 new daily coronavirus infections for the first time since last winter. (More COVID-19 stories.)