Hard-hit U.S. states 'surge' hospital intensive care beds as ICU wards fill up

FILE PHOTO: Nurse Leah Silver cares for a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient in the COVID ICU at the University of Washington Medical Center - Montlake during the COVID-19 outbreak in Seattle, Washington, U.S. April 24, 2020. REUTERS/David Ryder

(Reuters) - Some Texas hospitals are running out of intensive care unit (ICU) beds for COVID-19 patients, turning to surge capacity that they expect will let them handle rising virus cases for another couple of weeks.

Spikes of cases in several U.S. states including Texas, Arizona and Florida are raising concerns that the United States is relaxing lockdowns too fast and that hospitals may run out of space. Houston has considered turning part of a local stadium complex into excess hospital capacity - but local officials say that's not currently part of their immediate plans.