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Dr Doug Griffin, Sanford vice president and medical officer of health in Fargo, said the number of hospital patients with COVID-19, which has hovered around 35 in recent weeks, has risen to 50.
Along with hospitalizations, the death toll continues to rise. On Monday, October 4, three patients with COVID-19 died at Sanford in Fargo, bringing the total number of patients who have died from the coronavirus in the local health system since the start of the pandemic to 340.
On Monday, Covid Act Now lowered North Dakota’s risk level from very high to severe, the highest category. North Dakota’s positive test rate was 11.4%, indicating that many infected people go undetected during testing.
The last time North Dakota reached the serious risk level of Covid Act Now was in December, when the state was reeling from the record fall-winter wave. Covid Act Now is an independent, non-profit private group whose partners include Sanford Medicine and the Harvard Global Health Initiative.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to rate North Dakota’s COVID-19 risk level as high.
Surveillance tests indicate that almost all infections in the region are caused by the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, Griffin said. The rise in the delta is likely to continue for a few weeks, he added.
The Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington predicts that the peak in daily cases in North Dakota could arrive by mid-October, but spikes in demand for hospital resources and deaths will follow in November. .
So far, Sanford is treating its COVID-19 patients in two units, an intensive care unit and a medico-surgical unit. But past experience with the pandemic has shown that cases can increase sharply.
This means Sanford must be prepared to open a new unit on short notice, Griffin said.
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The three Sanford hospital campuses in Fargo remain “very full”, with a Tuesday morning census of 521, up from 545 in recent weeks.
Hospital caregivers are “just very, very busy,” dealing with not only cases of COVID-19, but other respiratory illnesses, trauma and the whole gamut of people requiring hospital care, Griffin said.
COVID-19 patients often have long hospital stays and put additional strain on intensive care units and intermediate care units.
“They’ve been with us for a long time,” Griffin said of COVID-19 patients. “It adds a significant burden to our intensive care unit. “
After about three weeks, COVID-19 patients are no longer contagious and do not require isolation, but can still be very sick and need a long time to recover, he said.
Staffing issues remain significant. Sanford in Fargo has openings for over 200 nurses. Sanford was recently able to hire 70 mobile nurses, but they’re only available for a few weeks, Griffin said.
Sanford offers a variety of salary increases and incentives, including referral bonuses. But the pressures on doctors, nurses and other caregivers continue to increase as the pandemic, which has raged for more than 18 months, continues.
“What concerns us is this resilience,” Griffin said. “Just people who can’t take it.”
So far, 91% of Fargo’s workforce in Sanford have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Employees must be vaccinated or granted an exemption by November 1 or be tested weekly for the virus.
“We anticipate that we will lose very little,” Griffin said of employees who refuse to be vaccinated. Sanford Health, which has about 30,000 employees system-wide, has granted exemptions to more than 3,000 employees, he said.
When asked if this was a major flaw, Griffin replied “potentially,” adding that Sanford wants its employees to be vaccinated to prevent them from infecting patients. Those who are not vaccinated by November 1, however, will be tested, he said.
To qualify for a religious exemption, employees must be able to demonstrate “strong religious beliefs,” Griffin said.
Unvaccinated patients continue to represent the vast majority of COVID-19 patients in Sanford hospitals. As of Tuesday, unvaccinated patients accounted for 158 of 170 COVID-19 admissions, 41 of 44 COVID-19 cases in intensive care and 31 of 32 COVID-19 patients on ventilators.
Sanford expects a worse flu season than last year, which was “very mild,” likely because so many people were wearing masks and practicing social distancing.
To help ease the pressure on hospitals, the best thing people can do is get vaccinated to protect themselves against COVID-19 and the flu, Griffin said. In addition, he added, people should take precautions including wearing masks, social distancing, hand washing and being careful to avoid accidents.
Essentia had 18 hospital patients with COVID-19 on Tuesday.
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