CINCINNATI – As the coronavirus travels more and more through Ohio and hospital treatments get bigger, Governor Mike DeWine fears that Thanksgiving may be what is driving hospital utilization to the brink.
The governor, along with some of the state’s top doctors, held an unscheduled press conference on Monday to discuss overwhelming pressure on hospitals.
Conclusion: If hospitalization of Covid-19 continues to soar, surgeries and outpatient treatments are likely to slow down.
According to government officials, the issue is twofold.
First, Ohio continues to set daily coronavirus records, essentially flooding hospitals with new patients. Second, hospital staff who properly care for patients become infected themselves.
Take Cleveland, for example.
“My biggest concern today is that we have 970 caregivers at the Cleveland Clinic because they are either quarantined or suffering from an active Covid infection. They are not caught in the hospital, but in the community. , ”Said Dr. Robert Wyllie at a meeting at the Cleveland Clinic, reported on NBC 5 in Cincinnati.
Cleveland officials announced Monday that coronavirus cases had exceeded 10,000, with 308 arriving the previous day.
As the wave grows, doctors and hospitals will have to make more decisions about how to deal with it, including postponing surgeries and outpatient procedures, state officials said Monday.
While government officials quickly pointed out that 3 out of 10 hospital beds across the country are currently unfilled, that could change after Thanksgiving.
DeWine and doctors encourage residents to be careful during the holiday and not have a lot of people.
Residents are responsible for who they let into their homes, said Republican DeWine, who last week introduced a nationwide curfew to slow the spread of the virus.
“We haven’t seen a plateau yet,” the governor said.
Doctors in Ohio expect some of the people crowding around the Thanksgiving dinner table to cause symptoms about a week later, followed by hospitalization a week later.
“We can’t sound the alarm bell loud enough for people in Ohio to change their behavior,” said Dr. Andy Thomas, of the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University. – Hold the bubble during the approaching Thanksgiving. Hopefully, if his family comes, he will hopefully be quarantined for 14 days, ”NBC 5 reported.
According to state health records, the number of infections on Monday was 363,304, with 6,020 deaths and 24,705 hospitalizations.
“Today’s data is incomplete. Thousands of reports are awaiting review. In addition, today’s data include positive test results for two days, which have been delayed due to technical problems with laboratory reports. , He wrote on the corona virus tracking dashboard of the Ohio Department of Health.
State health officials said they expect a 50 percent jump in hospitalizations in the coming weeks.
The Ohio Hospital Association said Monday that 4,358 people have been hospitalized with the coronavirus. There were also 1,079 people in the intensive care unit with a positive Covid test.
Ohio is in the first week of DeWine’s three-week curfew, which requires residents to stay home between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., except for fast food, grocery stores, pharmacy trips, or work obligations.
His mandate came last Thursday, when the state reported an increase in 7,079 new cases of coronavirus, well above the then 21-day average of 5,224.
Suddenly, Ohio’s most populous county, Franklin County, home to the State Capitol, Columbus and Ohio State University, has become the epicenter of the coronavirus with 665 deaths and 49,267 cases – 14,000 more cases than the next highest county.
In Ohio, the county is the only one to reach the four critical levels in the public health counseling system, also known as purple.
“We expect other counties to be marked purple sometime,” said Joe Mazzola, Franklin County Health Commissioner.
“It’s not necessarily surprising that we have the most cases,” Mazzola said, citing the county’s population. “I think a lot of factors go into it.”
He noted that the county has a robust test system for health care facilities, screening and pop-up clinics.
Late since, the governor has visited the state to visit hospitals and talk to experts about the pandemic and try to figure out ways to prevent the virus from spreading.
The governor wants his mandate to slow down hospital care, protect children at school and loved ones until the vaccine arrives. Officials said Tuesday that the first doses could be distributed as early as December 15, with the first doses planned for people in direct contact with Covid patients.
“This virus lives when it is passed from one person to another. If you just lower the contacts, we’re better off wearing a mask, ”DeWine said when he announced the curfew.
His plan was supported by the Ohio Restaurant Association.
– We support it. We will do our part to help control the spread of Covid-19. We know there is tremendous pressure on the medical system, ”said John Barker, president of the association. “We think this is the right move at the right time.”
According to a recent order signed by Lance Himes, interim director of the Ohio Department of Health, all retailers should be required to display a sign indicating the need for masks in facilities as well as the maximum capacity of entrances.
Retailers should also locate hand disinfection stations in high-contact locations, disinfect and provide reasonable accommodation for anyone who is unable to wear a mask in the store, whether online or by phone order, contactless non-stop pickup or delivery options.
Last week, Cleveland interrupted at least two one-day epidemics. There were 195 confirmed cases of coronavirus on Monday and a further 314 confirmed cases the next day, bringing their total to 509.
Worse, Cuyahoga County officials, where Cleveland is, have called for 1,000 to 2,000 cases a day.
“We asked, we wore a mask.” said Armond Budish, Cuyahoga County executive last week. – We are in the struggle of our lives.
He called on residents to avoid social gatherings over Thanksgiving and beyond to avoid a complete shutdown that would hurt the economy and the state’s unemployment rate skyrocket.
“Stay away from gatherings,” he said. – Let’s look at the long view.
