Texas Gov. Abbott to deploy 2,500 more out-of-state medical staff to battle delta Covid surge
Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaking at a press conference at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on May 18, 2020.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday the state will get 2,500 additional medical personnel from across the country to help alleviate pressure on the state's health-care system imposed by this summer's Covid surge.

Texas began requesting external assistance just two weeks ago, when Abbott announced that the Texas Department of State Health Services had coordinated a first wave of over 2,500 out-of-state workers to respond to the delta variant. With this latest addition, the state will have approximately 8,100 outside medical personnel, including nurses and respiratory therapists.

Covid patients are currently taking up more than half of all intensive care beds in Texas as of Thursday, compared with 30% nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"The medical personnel and equipment deployed by DSHS will provide crucial support to our health care facilities as they treat hospitalized cases of COVID-19," Abbott said in a statement.

The Texas health services department is also distributing ventilators, hospital beds, heart monitors and oxygen machines, the statement said. More than a quarter of Texas' nearly 52,000 reported hospital inpatients have Covid, HHS recorded Thursday.