Shelby County hospitals are facing the new year with a record number of COVID-19 patients. As ofWednesday, there were 661, a 13 percent increase since December 31.
The five adult hospitals within the local Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare system had just one unoccupied ICU bed between them on Thursday morning. Across facilities in the Mid-South, there were just 23.
Dr.Ben Bowman, director of Methodist-Germantown’s emergency department, says figures are in constant flux as patients come and go. “Certainly healthcare systems across our country are very stressed right now, and that’s not anything to be taken lightly,” he said, adding that local hospitals are managing their finite resources as best they can by monitoring the caseload of elective procedures and continuing efforts to recruit more staff.
Theongoing surge in hospital admissions comes asmany doctors caring for COVID patients began receiving their second and final shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this week.
However,the state has not yet informed the local health department when they’ll receive their next allotment of the vaccine, which they’re using to inoculate first responders and others in the state’s top priority groups.
Almost 25,000 Shelby County residents,less than three percent of the local population, have receivedat least an initial dose .
In the meantime, Health Officer Dr. Bruce Randolph says the county's“Safer at Home” order, which encourages the public to avoid activities such as in-person dining, could be extended beyond January 22 if data doesn’t improve.
“People themselves have to take on the responsibility of not going to places,” he said at a press conference Thursday. “Just because something is open, just because something is legally permitted, does not mean that it is medically advisable.”
The health department also wants businesses to ensure that employees who may have been exposed to the virus are instructed to stay home and quarantinein accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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