COLUMBUS – The regional leaders in Ohio’s battle to stem an alarming spike in coronavirus cases says the state’s hospital capacity is being strained and the number of COVID-19 patients could begin to crowd out others in a matter of weeks.
Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, the newly-appointed medical director of the Ohio Department of Health, told reporters Monday that every community in the state is grappling with unprecedented numbers of cases and warned that hospitals statewide are reaching maximum capacity because the available supply of trained personnel, such as nurses, physicians and pharmacists is in danger of being exhausted.
A record-high 6,508 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 were reported Tuesday for a total of 261,482. Over 10% of the state’s hospital capacity is occupied by COVID-19 patients and hospitals are nearing 80% occupancy, a level at which officials have indicated they would become concerned.
Gov. Mike DeWine appointed the doctors to lead three zones across the state (above) during a briefing Monday, in an attempt to combat the continuous spread of the virus and maintain hospitals’ ability to respond to the pandemic in the coming weeks.
He cancelled his regular Tuesday afternoon coronavirus briefing and will address state Wednesday night regarding the “critical stage” Ohio is at in the battle against virus.
DeWine has not given any clues about what restrictions on residents or businesses are being considered, if any, to slow the latest surge in cases.
Given the spike in total cases and hospitalizations, the area that includes central Ohio could be two or three weeks away from crowding out non-COVID care, Dr. Andy Thomas of OSU Wexner Medical Center.
Area hospitals have seen the number of patients grow from 400 on Nov. 2 to over 560, Thomas said.
The state Monday reported 4,706 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 for a total of 254,974 with 5,524 deaths. It was the second straight of fewer than 5,000 cases following record numbers of new cases Friday and Saturday.
The three doctors were optimistic about Monday’s news of a Pfizer vaccine with a 90% effective rate.
But they warned that people must not “let their guard down,” as the nation awaits the vaccine’s release.