CLEVELAND — The number of people inside America’s hospitals fighting COVID-19 has reached record levels and that includes hospitals here in Ohio.
“We’re sixth in the country for the most hospitalizations, so it’s pretty significant,” said John Palmer, Ohio Hospital Association.
The latest COVID-19 surge in the state, according to medical experts, started in Northeast Ohio, but now cases of the very contagious omicron variant has swept across. “The rest of the state is starting to see an uptick which is creating more demand for health care needs. Frankly, it’s been very intense situations in hospitals,” said Palmer.
On Tuesday, the Cleveland Clinic said they have 1,100 COVID-19 patients, with 220 in the ICU. But now, a new concern for doctors: “What’s concerning us the most is it’s also backing up into the emergency departments. This is something new recently we’ve been experiencing because of the high numbers that patients are waiting in the emergency department for a bed in the hospital or the ICU and that is really very concerning, “said Dr. Raed Dweik, chairman Cleveland Clinic Respiratory Institute.
Now a message from Dweik who is on the front lines.
“I want to really plead with your audience. We’re doing our best to take care of patients coming into the hospital. We need everyone’s help,” said Dweik.
And that, Dweik said, means getting vaccinated, including a booster, washing hands often, wearing a mask and social distancing.
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