Hospitals in North Texas have seen an increase in patients with COVID-19 over the past week.
The Texas Department of State Health Services says hospitals in the Metroplex had 701 cases Monday, up from 612 a week ago.
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"It's definitely an uptick," says Stephen Love, president and CEO of the DFW Hospital Council. "I will tell you in the last two months, we've had four times that we've had upticks, and they all went back down. This one has been sustained, though, for a week. That's why we're really watching it."
Across Texas, the Department of State Health Services says 2,326 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 Monday, up from 1,935 a week ago.
Tuesday afternoon at 1 p.m., Governor Greg Abbott's office says he will "provide an update on Texas' hospital capacity." That press conference will be carried live on 1080 KRLD.
Abbott's office says he will speak along with John Hellerstedt, the commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, and Nim Kidd, the chief of the Texas Department of Emergency Management.
While hospitalizations have increased in North Texas, hospitals in the area still have available capacity. Mayor Eric Johnson says 25 hospitals in the City of Dallas reported 65 percent of beds occupied Monday, 65 percent of ICU beds occupied and 31 percent of ventilators being used.
"Some of the cases we're seeing hospitalized are family members," Love says. "If you're going to work or you're going to a restaurant, please, when you come home and you're around family members, don't take your guard down."
Love says people should continue washing their hands more frequently at home.