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The Lubbock Chamber of Commerce announced on Tuesday a virtual prayer gathering that will take place over Zoom and Facebook Live.

The Mayor's Virtual Prayer Gathering will take place on Wednesday, November 18th from 9-10 a.m. Those wishing to participate over Zoom are asked to register here.

According to a press release for the prayer gathering, Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope will be joined by members of the healthcare, business, and education communities. The purpose of the virtual prayer gathering is to "pray over our healthcare facilities and hospitals."

"We will join Mayor Dan Pope on Wednesday morning to pray over our healthcare facilities and hospitals as we give thanks to the frontline workers that have been working tirelessly day and night to heal those affected by COVID in our city and the surrounding area," said Gabe Vitela, Lubbock Chamber Chair. "We will also ask for the Lord’s continued protection and strength over every business, school, university, and the entire city as we continue to face the challenges of COVID this holiday season."

Coronavirus cases continue to rise in Lubbock and throughout the region. On Tuesday, the City of Lubbock Coronavirus Dashboard reported that 38 patients were waiting for beds in Lubbock hospitals.

The City of Lubbock did announce on Tuesday that there were a combined 13 open hospital beds in Lubbock as of 4 p.m., according to a press release:

As of 4:00 p.m. there are a combined 13 open hospital beds and 25 patients holding for beds at University Medical Center and Covenant Health System. Note that this reflects staffed beds open to receive patients and differs from the available bed count shown on the DSHS and the City of Lubbock dashboards. These dashboards count all available beds, including specialty beds, such as pediatrics, PICU, outpatient, psychiatric and others, as well as hospitalized patients in the 22 county Trauma Service Area.

According to the City of Lubbock, 585 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed on Tuesday. There were 101 recoveries and 6 additional deaths. The total number of cases in Lubbock County is 26,693, with 5,285 active cases, 21,125 recoveries and 283 deaths.

As coronavirus cases rise in Lubbock, the healthcare community is being stretched thin. Nurses and other staff members at local hospitals have contracted COVID-19 or have been quarantined due to exposure.

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