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This week, Dr James Fiorica, Chief Medical Officer of the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System, provided an update on the Covid-19 situation at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. In addition to providing information on the hospital’s current count and capacity of Covid patients, he offered insight into patient demographics (much younger than last year), amended recommendations from the CDC and the prevention for individuals and the community as a whole.
Here are the main points to remember.
On the census of Covid patients now compared to last month:
“If you look at the number of patients now compared to a month ago, there are currently 95 Covid patients in the hospital. A month ago that number was much lower. It’s the same in intensive care; last month we had no Covid patients there, and now we have opened three dedicated pods for Covid-19 intensive care. We have capacity, ventilators and equipment, but we are definitely in pandemic mode right now.
“The vast majority of Covid patients in the ICU are not vaccinated. Of all the patients we have had, there may have been a patient who was vaccinated but had other comorbidities that led to it. ICU All of our other ICU patients are unvaccinated which is sad. I wish we had had the opportunity to get them vaccinated earlier. “
On the delta variant:
“It’s very aggressive. Once it finds you, you’re going to be infected. It’s different from the alpha variant, there’s no question about it.
“Sarasota County is fortunate to know that 60% of our population is vaccinated; that’s why we are currently doing a little better than other counties and even some other states. I think it also proves how well vaccination works – I don’t. want to underestimate this. We are protected, but only to a certain extent. Now the goal is how to get more people vaccinated? “
On how the current fourth wave is different from the previous ones:
“Every outbreak is different, but this time it’s mostly unvaccinated patients who are sick, and they’re younger. We are now seeing patients in their 30s and 40s. I was talking to one of our disease physicians. infectious and he said, ‘I can’t believe I have a 40 year old patient who is so sick.’ We’re not used to seeing this; a year ago we were talking about a much older population with a lot of medical problems. Now we are dealing with healthy young people. ‘USI is a revelation. “
On the best way to protect ourselves and each other:
“Right now there are a few things we can do, and number 1 is vaccination, vaccination, vaccination. It works. Now is the time to do it so we can put this [pandemic] to an end. Now is the time to say, “I will do this, not just for myself, but for my community.
“# 2 is masking, and that goes for unvaccinated and vaccinated people, both patients and in the community. The CDC recommends it if you’re in a high-risk area – and Florida does. is. We must take the precaution of wearing masks.
“And finally, social distancing and hand washing go hand in hand.”
To find out if there will be an increase in deaths as the number of cases and hospitalizations increase:
“We don’t know. We are hoping that because this is a younger population, their immune system will be a little stronger and they will get away with it. With Covid-19, it’s the antivirals that are controlling it. inflammation is the second part of the disease. We are trying to block that. With a younger population, we hope to control it better. “
On whether the hospital will limit elective surgeries and other procedures due to the surge:
“We’re not there yet. We’ve looked at our elective surgeries this week and next week, as well as our inventory, ICU census, ventilators, equipment, and staff. We have the capacity to do them. do, so we haven’t placed any restrictions on them at this time, but we are monitoring daily and weekly. ”
What should parents think about as children prepare to go back to school:
“I don’t want to belittle the value of the mask. We are following the CDC’s recommendations and reminding parents that they have the option of sending children to school with a mask. It may not be popular, but it is definitely a safe way to do it.
“Everyone assumes the children will be healthier and asymptomatic. The majority of infected children don’t know it, but they take the virus home and expose themselves to other family members or friends. children can get very sick with Covid as well. They can spread disease, but they can also get very sick. “
On staff morale at Sarasota Memorial:
“We just told our staff to wear masks again. We have had masks in all clinical areas from the start, but we recently reinstated masks in meeting rooms because we don’t know exactly who is vaccinated and which isn’t. So we’re asking everyone to put on masks even in non-clinical areas. The hospital feels this pain like everyone else, but it’s important. We don’t want to spread this virus. “
“I have always said that the healthcare providers who treat Covid patients are heroes. They have to deal with all the emotions, and they feel the same thoughts about prevention as everyone else. But they will treat the patient. like a patient. “
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