[ad_1]
Local doctors and public health officials issued a terrible warning on Friday morning as Clark County’s COVID-19 case rates hit a new pandemic high this week.
“We are not heading in the right direction,” said Dr Alan Melnick, Clark County health officer. “Over the past week in Clark County, we’ve seen an average of 225 new cases every day. And two months ago, we were averaging 21 cases per day, more than 10 times the case rate two months ago. ”
Melnick attributed the skyrocketing cases to Clark County’s low vaccination rate of 59% and the highly transmissible delta variant, which he said accounts for 90% of cases in the state.
Executives at Vancouver’s PeaceHealth Southwest and Legacy Salmon Creek medical centers described their facilities as packed and with long wait times in emergency rooms. The two hospitals also canceled elective surgeries.
People admitted with symptoms of COVID-19 continue to be largely unvaccinated, officials from both hospitals said, and they shared stories of people expressing regret that they were not vaccinated from care beds intensive.
Dr Kelley Pratt of Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center urged those looking for a COVID-19 test to visit local drive-thru, emergency care or other testing sites instead of the room. ’emergency.
Dr Lawrence Neville, Chief Medical Officer of the PeaceHealth Columbia Network, announced that all bedside providers at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center and PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview are vaccinated.
He said 95% of hospital staff had been vaccinated before the PeaceHealth deadline. The remaining 5% were put on administrative leave. Those with medical or religious exemptions can use paid leave or are on unpaid leave, while those without exemption are on unpaid leave. Neville said that despite putting employees on leave, PeaceHealth is not facing a staffing shortage.
“Ultimately our first ethical duty is to ensure the safety of our patients and our community, and we felt that we had no choice but to take this tough stance, and I am truly proud. the way we did, “Neville said. “We did it with a lot of compassion – a lot of rules and consideration. And again, this ensures that if you are to be a patient, or your loved one is to be a patient, a vaccinated person will take care of you. ”
PeaceHealth hospitals have been much busier than usual this time of year, Neville said, with “huge numbers of COVID patients.”
Vancouver Hospital has 304 patients while it usually admits around 280 patients or less. Of these patients, 75 are COVID-19 positive and 20 of the COVID-19 patients are in intensive care.
PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center – the only hospital in Cowlitz County – has 140 patients compared to usually around 90 at this time of year, according to Neville. There are 62 COVID-19 patients, 16 of whom are in intensive care.
Both hospitals have set up additional intensive care units.
Pediatrician Dr Devon Ebbing said as children return to school she is seeing an increase in other respiratory viruses, in addition to COVID-19, which she called “confusing.”
“I have spoken to my colleagues in the region, a number of general pediatricians, and they are all seeing what I see, which is much more positive cases in children too young to be vaccinated or in children. the 12 and who are not vaccinated, ”she said.
The warning came ahead of Labor Day weekend and officials fear the effects of holiday gatherings.
“I loved the holidays, but throughout the pandemic, whenever a holiday came up, I had a feeling of fear in terms of the gatherings,” Melnick said.
Melnick said he was especially concerned about smaller, more intimate gatherings where people are less likely to take precautions and more likely to be relaxed with close friends and family.
“We mostly see children getting sick – especially younger ones – getting sick from an adult in their bubble, and the vast majority of unvaccinated adults in their bubble,” Ebbing said. “And so we certainly see it after the gatherings. I have seen a slight increase in cases after family funerals where people are just not keeping custody. ”
Pratt said he is also seeing many cases related to events, such as weddings and birthdays.
“There’s a tendency to want to be around people in an intimate way – to touch them, you want to hug people, you want to sit next to the people who are dear to you,” Pratt said. “But the reality is that closeness always puts you at risk, and the virus really doesn’t care if you’re a family member or not.”
Officials are also concerned about high rates of cases as fall and flu season approaches. Ebbing said the most serious cases she sees are cases of co-infection of COVID-19 and another virus.
“We are all very concerned about the flu and COVID,” Ebbing said. “We don’t know what it looks like and what it’s going to look like in children. We know that children and the elderly are at higher risk of contracting the flu, so for children who are not eligible for the COVID vaccine, when the flu vaccine is available, I strongly – we all strongly encourage to have this protection on board as well, and children six months and older can get the flu shot.
Melnick said public health currently has no plans to reinstate mandates on businesses, saying it would be difficult to enforce with so much pandemic fatigue. He also said Clark County currently has no plans to implement an outdoor mask warrant.
[ad_2]
Source link