COLUMBUS – As hospitalizations from COVID-19 in Ohio reach their highest level of the pandemic, Gov. Mike DeWine is mobilizing hundreds more National Guard troops to help with the spike.
DeWine on Wednesday announced the mobilization of an additional 1,250 members of the Ohio National Guard into hospitals, bringing the total number of Guard members helping hospitals deal with the surge in cases to 2,400.
“This is not something we take lightly… We are asking them to leave their families, their jobs and homes. This is a huge sacrifice,” Governor DeWine said.
Ohio hospitalizations for COVID-19 hit a pandemic record high for the second day running Thursday when Ohio Department of Health data showed 5,466 people in the hospital with COVID-19, or one of every five patients.
The 20,320 new cases of COVID-19 reported Wednesday was the highest daily case count of the entire pandemic.
DeWine says the vast majority of the ill are unvaccinated and he urged people to consider vaccinations as the best protection against the coronavirus.
“It is your choice. But the evidence is abundantly clear this is the best way…to stay out of the hospitals,” DeWine said.
DeWine previously authorized the deployment of 1,050 National Guard members, including over 100 in central Ohio, on Dec. 17.
National Guard medical personnel, such as nurses and medics, will provide clinical care, and non-medical teams will offer food service, patient transportation within facilities, and administrative support, Adjutant General Maj. Gen. John Harris said.
The current number of hospitalizations surpasses the previous record, set on Dec. 15, 2020 and the 1,228 patients in intensive-care units approaches the record number of ICU patients, also reported on Dec. 15, 2020.
“It is beyond difficult,” Jennifer Hollis, a critical care nurse at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, said. “Our beds are full. There is nowhere else to go, and we are just as short-staffed as everyone else is seeing as well.”
“We are tired, we are frustrated,” she said.
Cases surge nationwide
More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to their highest level on record at over 265,000 per day on average.
The surge has been driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant.
The previous mark was 250,000 cases per day, set in mid-January.
The number of Americans now in the hospital with COVID-19 is running at around 60,000, or about half the figure seen last January.
With New Year’s Eve approaching, Dr. Anthony Fauci says there is no need to cancel small home gatherings among vaccinated and boosted family and friends.
But he is strongly recommending against 40- and 50-person parties with lots of hugging and kissing.
Hospitals ask Ohio schools to mask up
The Ohio Hospital Association is asking all Ohio schools to consider mandatory mask wearing as cases of COVID continue to spike.
In a letter to school superintendents, administrators and school board members, the letter from the OHA and Ohio Children’s Hospital Association encourages them to implement a masking requirement when students return from the holiday break.
A masking requirement in schools will help limit community spread of COVID-19 and keep students in school, the letter said.