The surge of Oregon COVID-19 patients is stretching hospitals limits - OPB
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COVID-19 has now claimed 3,000 lives in Oregon. That figure was part of Fridays troubling update on a pandemic that is overrunning Oregons hospitals, as the state recorded its fifth straight day with new cases exceeding the 2,000 mark.
State officials and those operating hospitals have an urgent message to Oregonians: if you are unvaccinated, stay home and avoid non-essential activities. If you are vaccinated, you should also take precautions and avoid taking risks that could land you in the hospital.
It sounds a lot like what health officials were asking Oregonians to do when the pandemic began in March of 2020. But now, the situation in Oregon hospitals is much worse.
Our health care system is on the verge of collapse in parts of the state. The numbers grow every day, Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen said.
There are 890 people in Oregons hospitals with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, about 300 more than have been hospitalized at any other point in this pandemic. Its the first time Oregons hospitals have had to handle COVID-19 patient volumes like this.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health care system are widespread.
Every bed on this intensive care unit at Oregon Health and Science University is critically ill with COVID-19 in Portland, Ore., Aug. 19, 2021.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Hospitals around Oregon are starting their days with no intensive care unit beds available. And as of Wednesday, 93% of all the hospital beds in the state were full. Thats not even the entire picture.
At CHI Mercy Health Medical Center in Roseburg, doctors faced one of their biggest fears: a hospital so full that a patient died after waiting four hours for an ICU bed.
Emergency room doctors and nurses cared for him while they tried to find him staff and space.
Related: Inside OHSUs fight to save the regions sickest COVID-19 patients
Were asking ER doctors to step beyond their comfort zone and take care of some patients or conditions that normally would be in the critical care unit or the cardiac care unit. And it places everyone in a very difficult situation, said Dr. Jason Gray, the hospitals chief medical officer, in an interview with OPBs Think Out Loud.
Usually, when hospital officials talk about available beds, they mean staffed beds. But at Providence Medford Medical Center, where some units are operating at 120% capacity. Thats so many people, according to Providence Medford Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jason Kuhl, that literally, were out of physical beds.
At St. Charles Health System in Bend, there were 62 COVID-19 patients Thursday taking up about a third of its acute care beds. Oregon has fewer staffed hospital beds per person than most states, so theres not a lot of room to expand capacity.
These are beds that are being utilized for these very important patients with a severe infection. But [COVID-19 patients] are also taking the place of beds that are much needed for other care, said Jeff Absalon, the president and CEO of St. Charles Health. When you hear numbers about capacity, what I want you to know is, we are at or over capacity in our hospitals throughout the state.
Those full hospitals have spillover effects. At Oregon Health & Sciences University in Portland, all four intensive care units were completely full.
This overloaded health care system has consequences for everyone, not just the unvaccinated.
Since the pandemic began, St. Charles has canceled or postponed over 3,000 scheduled surgeries.
These are not cosmetic surgeries. These are patients that have cancer, heart disease, neurological disease, surgeries that are necessary to preserve life and function and theyre being delayed right now, Absalon said.
Only patients with the most severe surgical needs are being seen, Absalon explained. I dont want to mince my words here: we are rationing care.
Hospitals are so full that emergency departments are experiencing long wait times, bad enough that ambulances have to wait longer to get their patients in. And once patients are admitted to the emergency department, they could wait days for critical care beds to become available.
This is why Absalon is asking people to stop taking risks that could expose them to the coronavirus. And that doesnt just mean avoiding crowded, maskless bars.
What scares me the most about this is whats been alluded to. If someone gets in an accident or has a heart attack or need for acute care, they might not get the care they need in a timely fashion, Absalon said. This is a time to really be cautious about your activities and keep yourself safe.
On Aug. 13, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced the deployment of 1,500 National Guard troops to support frontline health care workers. The first 500 are being sent to hospitals in Deschutes, Douglas, Jackson, and Josephine counties, which have fewer resources, serve large areas and have been hard-hit by the virus. Some have already arrived.
At this point, the National Guard is assisting with non-caregiver-type work, Kuhl said.
Hospitals in Columbia, Curry and Marion counties and the Portland metro area will receive the next wave of Guard members.
Oregon has also requested almost 500 health care workers from other states from nurses to respiratory technicians and is contracting with nursing crisis teams.
It will take weeks for much of this medical worker support to arrive, and hospitals are full right now.
On Aug. 11, Brown reinstated a mask mandate to combat the rising cases. But even as Oregonians take precautions, case numbers keep rising. And the people who get sick today may need hospital beds in the future.
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In room after room at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital's COVID-19 intensive care unit, patients are sedated and on life support, many of them much younger than the people sickened by the coronavirus earlier waves. As they tend to patients, the nurses, doctors and support staff on duty report feeling the strain.
A patient with COVID-19 died on Wednesday while waiting for an intensive care unit bed at Mercy Health Hospital in Roseburg.
Oregons hospitals are preparing for an influx of National Guard troops next week, to help with COVID-19 cases.
Tags:Science & Environment, COVID-19
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The surge of Oregon COVID-19 patients is stretching hospitals limits - OPB News
Frederick County reported its first death from the coronavirus in two weeks over the weekend as infections and hospitalizations from the virus continued to steadily climb.
The county tallied 58 new coronavirus cases and recorded a seven-day positivity rate of 6.98 percent on Sunday higher than Marylands overall rate of 5.08 percent. It recorded 78 new cases on Aug. 17, the highest daily total since the first week of February. Infections have been surging in the county since early July, according to spokespeople from the countys health department.
Shawn Dennison and Rissah Watkins of the health department said via email it was nearly impossible to accurately predict future patterns in the spread of the virus and its many variants. They stated weekly numbers of new cases confirmed by testing in the county are projected to increase steadily over the next three weeks, which is as far out as forecasts extend.
As the highly contagious delta variant continues to circulate, case totals are ballooning across the country. America is averaging more than 800 newly reported deaths every day about twice as many as in early August according to data from The New York Times.
Hospitalizations from COVID-19 in Frederick County began increasing three weeks ago, according to information provided by Dennison and Watkins. As of Friday, Frederick Health Hospital reported that it was treating 20 people with the virus, five of whom were in its intensive care unit. Similar to trends seen across the country, most of those hospitalized from the virus in Fredericks hospital are unvaccinated, hospital spokeswoman Kelsey Shupe wrote in an email.
Currently, 60.1 percent of people living in Frederick County are fully vaccinated, according to health department data as of Sunday. Thats a slightly higher proportion than those who are fully vaccinated in Maryland overall and about 10 percentage points higher than the rate of Americans who are fully vaccinated.
According to Dennison and Watkins, the relatively high number of people who are vaccinated in the county has helped reduce the number of people who need to be hospitalized after becoming infected. But they noted that as the number of people testing positive for the virus increases, the number of people entering the hospital system will also increase even if it is a lower percent of those who needed to be hospitalized after becoming infected in prior surges of the virus.
Frederick County has seen a steady decline in demand for the vaccine since earlier in the summer. Still, 1,316 people received their first shot last week higher than any weekly total between mid-June and late July.
The health department is preparing to offer coronavirus booster shots after health officials announced a plan last week for all U.S. adults who received a two-dose vaccine to get another jab within eight months of their second one. Dennison and Watkins wrote that the countys health department is working with its state counterpart to determine how the rollout of boosters will be administered and is collaborating with vaccine providers throughout Frederick. The county will continue providing vaccinations at its Oak Street location and at mobile clinics, they added.
Meanwhile, Frederick Health Hospital has begun giving coronavirus booster shots to immunocompromised patients, following the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions approval of additional doses for this population on Aug. 13.
As the state of the pandemic continues to worsen in the county, the health department has reinforced its coronavirus testing and contact tracing capacity, Dennison and Watkins wrote. The department is also monitoring cases and hospitalizations in the community and is working with the CDC, the state health department and the community to circulate reliable information about the virus.
With coronavirus transmission levels considered high in Frederick County and much of the country Watkins and Dennison encouraged people to wear masks when in public indoor settings. Doing so provides the wearer with an extra layer of protection and reduces the spread of the virus, especially among people they interact with daily whose immune systems may not be able to prevent a severe infection, Watkins and Dennison wrote.
They also encouraged people to get tested if they have coronavirus symptoms or come in contact with someone with a confirmed case of the virus and to wash their hands frequently.
And if you havent been vaccinated yet, Dennison and Watkins said you should get the shot as soon as possible. The vaccines available have shown great efficacy at reducing the possibility of severe disease, hospitalization and death from the virus, including the delta variant.
Our health care workers have been hit very hard for over 17 months, Dennison and Watkins wrote. If you have not been vaccinated and still have questions, contact your health care provider or talk to someone whos been vaccinated.
Follow Angela Roberts on Twitter: @24_angier
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NASHVILLE, Tenn (WTVF) Conservative talk radio host Phil Valentine has died following a lengthy battle with COVID-19. He was 61 years old.
His death was announced by SuperTalk 99.7 WTN on Saturday afternoon after he had been battling the virus for more than a month.
On July 11, Valentine confirmed via his Facebook page that he had been diagnosed with COVID.
He was a prominent voice on Nashville radio for decades.
Valentine moved to talk radio full time in 1995, but in 2000, he received national attention by helping to organize horn honking protests against a proposed state income tax in Tennessee.
He broadcast his conservative talk radio show from outside the state Capitol, and urged people to drive by and make noise.
"We are going to have a one minute solid horn honking and we want you to participate in that," Valentine said from his broadcast booth.
Many credit the passionate protests with helping to defeat the state income tax which was proposed by a Republican Governor.
He later wrote a book about the protests called Tax Revolt.
It was one of several books he wrote during his career.
Valentine often discussed how his father was a Democrat and spent 12 years as a US Congressman.
But Valentine said he left the Democratic Party after Ronald Reagan became President.
His strong opinions helped get his radio show syndicated. It aired on stations across the country.
But his greatest influence was in Tennessee.
When Valentine felt Republican Speaker of House Glen Casada lied on his show by claiming a NewsChannel 5 investigation was inaccurate, he turned on Casada.
"It's always the cover-up that's worse," Valentine said.
"I'm expecting honest answers. I'm not expecting somebody to use me to spin his story and spin his web," Valentine said of Casada.
Not long after that Casada resigned as Speaker after losing support from a majority of Republican representatives.
Recently Valentine voiced skepticism about the COVID-19 vaccine.
In December of 2020 he tweeted "I have a very low risk of A) Getting COVID and B) dying of it if I do. Why would I risk getting a heart attack or paralysis by getting the vaccine?"
He even recorded a parody song - Vaxman - mocking the vaccine.
In July, he told his audience he had COVID and he expected to be back soon.
But later updates from family and friends indicated how serious it was.
Valentine's brother said Phil regretted not being more pro-vaccine and wrote if he got back on the radio he would encourage people to get vaccinated.
According to family, Valentine fought hard, but was unable to beat the virus.
Continued here:
Conservative talk radio host dies of COVID-19 - NewsChannel5.com
Hospitals in the South and Midwest say they are treating more children with Covid-19 than ever and are preparing for worse surges to come.
Cases there have jumped over the past six weeks as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads primarily among unvaccinated people. That is leading to more sick kids in places where community spread of the variant is high, public-health experts say.
Children under age 12 arent yet eligible to be vaccinated, and vaccination rates for those between 12 and 17 remain relatively low, according to data compiled by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Although children are much less likely than adults to develop severe Covid-19 or die from the virus, recent data from the Department of Health and Human Services show pediatric hospitalizations for Covid-19 are at the highest point since the agency began tracking them last year, driven by states that have been hit hard by the Delta variant.
Childrens hospitals are bracing for even more cases as schools reopen. They are hiring more nurses, reworking discharge protocols, speeding up room cleanings, laying contingency plans to expand bed capacity and preparing staff for an uptick in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C. A rare condition that can occur several weeks after Covid-19 infection, MIS-C can lead to organ damage or even death without the proper diagnosis and management.
It isnt clear whether the Delta variant is making kids sicker than they would have been if infected with previous strains. Some pediatricians believe that is the case because of the severity of the cases they have treated. Other pediatricians dont think Delta is causing more severe Covid-19 in children than earlier variants. But with Delta spreading widely, the number of children hospitalized with Covid-19 far outstrips anything they saw in the past.
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DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) Health officials are reporting more COVID-19 cases in children and with a return to school, were asking school leaders how and when theyll let parents know about possible outbreaks at their childs school.
Durham Public Schools says families can expect a robocall whenever a COVID-19 case pops up.
I think that the level of concern about delta (variant) is driving us to communicate more widely about these cases, said Chip Sudderth, Durham Public Schools chief communications officer.
Durham will also notify immediate close contacts and all staff members.
Wake County Public School System says it will notify close contacts within one to two days of that reported case to let them know about the need to quarantine.
Johnston County says it will also notify close contacts. Most districts also have dashboards where parents can keep up with cases.
With more children coming down with COVID-19 cases, Sudderth says parents are really taking this seriously.
Parents are telling us they want to know. They just simply want to know whats happening in their school, Sudderth said.
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How and when will central NC schools notify parents about COVID-19 cases? - CBS17.com
Syracuse University will require weekly COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated students, faculty and staff during the fall 2021 semester.
As of June 1, all students are required to be fully vaccinated in order to access campus, Chancellor Kent Syverud announced in a campus-wide email in April.
SU allows medical or religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine, but those who are unvaccinated must participate in COVID-19 testing once per week, said Mike Haynie, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, in a June SU news release. The university will regularly monitor compliance with this testing requirement, he said.
Testing for unvaccinated SU faculty, staff and students will occur in Kimmel Dining Hall. The university will continue to provide testing for all campus community members, including employees family members, regardless of vaccination status.
Beginning Aug. 30, the Kimmel testing center will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon to 7 p.m on Wednesdays, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.
Appointments are not required for testing. Those undergoing testing must bring their SU ID and refrain from brushing their teeth, using mouthwash, chewing gum, eating, drinking (including water) or using tobacco products 30 minutes prior to testing.
SU is currently under a BLUE level alert under its COVID-19 alert framework, which means unvaccinated students, faculty, staff and visitors are required to wear masks indoors at all times and outdoors in the presence of others. Vaccinated people are recommended to wear masks indoors when in the presence of others and in large groups outdoors.
Additionally, everyone regardless of vaccination status is required to wear masks in academic settings and during non-academic events on a case-by-case basis at the current alert level.
If a student tests positive for COVID-19, the universitys COVID-19 Project Management Office staff will make arrangements for them to enter isolation housing at no cost, according to SUs COVID-19 response checklists page.
If a faculty or staff member tests positive, they may not continue working in person and must stay home for the required isolation period until an HR Shared Services representative clears them to return to work, according to the page. Contact tracers will work with both SU employees and students to identify any close contacts and notify them of exposure.
More than 96% of students, faculty and staff are at least partially vaccinated or have a religious or medical exemption, Syverud said in a campus-wide email on Aug. 20.
Published on August 22, 2021 at 9:38 pm
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What SU's fall 2021 COVID-19 testing protocols are - The Daily Orange
We are here for you during this unprecedented time. Below are themost recent updates, information and resources for San Ramon residents, updated regularly.
If you have additional questions, please don't hesitate to call City Hall at (925) 973-2500 (MF, 8:30 a.m.5 p.m.) or emailinfo@sanramon.ca.gov.
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The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it will roll out COVID-19 booster shots for many Americans starting in mid-September. But there's another date that many are anticipating.
As early as this coming week, according to The New York Times, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to give full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine -- the first COVID-19 vaccine expected to receive that endorsement.
The FDA's approval might seem like a minor technical move to some. But full approval of all three COVID-19 vaccines is an important step that can make a difference in reducing COVID-19 infection and mortality rates, improving health care delivery and saving lives.
Here's why:
1. The approval will empower health care professionals to address the myth of "experimental vaccines."
All three vaccines currently have what's called "emergency use authorization" (EUA), which the FDA uses as a means to quickly give people access to potentially lifesaving medicines during a national crisis. Somehow, "emergency use" has been confused with "experimental."
As physicians and epidemiologists who have treated COVID-19 patients, it's frustrating that what amounts to a rather minor, somewhat bureaucratic detail is being used by people as justification not to get a vaccine that can save their lives and the lives of the people around them. More than 358 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been safely administered in the U.S. -- and the incidence of complications as a result of the vaccines is minimal.
The good news: According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) study, three in ten unvaccinated adults say they'd be more likely to get vaccinated if the vaccines currently authorized for emergency use were to receive full approval from the FDA. So if full FDA approval is what it takes for millions of people to put away their skepticism and get vaccinated, we're all for it.
Furthermore, for those for whom FDA approval isnt the real reason but a convenient excuse, clinicians may uncover more information about what is holding individuals back from getting vaccinated.
2. Approval of the vaccines will get more kids vaccinated.
Schools across the country are open. Millions of school-age children are now learning indoors. According to another KFF study, about one-quarter of parents of kids aged 12-17 say they'll "wait and see" how the vaccine works before getting their eligible child vaccinated. One in five parents say that their child will "definitely not" get vaccinated.
A health care worker fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in New York, July 22, 2021.
Again, people's objections stem largely from distrust of the vaccines and concerns about side effects. To empower educators and health professionals to both counter myths surrounding side effects and confidently enact vaccine requirements in schools, it's essential that the FDA give full approval to the vaccines. While authorization may initially only apply to those 16 and over, approval could provide reassurance to parents of all children currently eligible for the shot.
3. Approval will provide us with longer-term safety data.
What's the difference between emergency use and full approval? The simple answer is that for full approval, the FDA will require an additional four months of safety data. The FDA granted the COVID-19 vaccines' emergency use authorization based on two months of safety data; with any vaccine, nearly all potential safety problems crop up almost immediately after injection, which is why the FDA deemed two months sufficient for emergency authorization. We have now accumulated at least six months of safety data about these vaccines, making them eligible for full approval.
For people with irrational fears of infertility, magnetism and other specious side effects of the vaccines, the extra data probably won't mean much. But for people who really want to know more about the true long-term consequences of the vaccines, their reported diminished effectiveness over time, and common real-life side effects such as fevers and headaches, the extra information that goes into the full approval process will be yet another way to help them overcome hesitancy and get vaccinated.
4. Approval will provide employers with greater authority to mandate vaccines.
Many employers across the country have mandated that their employees get vaccinated. A number of these mandates have been challenged in court, and so far they've been upheld as legal. But Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, recently noted that if the vaccines receive full FDA approval, "then the legal ability to mandate becomes a lot stronger."
No doubt many employers are waiting for full approval before enacting vaccine requirements, and the sooner they get the legal basis to do so, the better.
The idea of a workplace-based vaccine mandate may seem like a new concept, but these mandates are already common for other FDA-approved vaccines. For example, children are required to be vaccinated against diseases like measles and mumps before enrolling in public school. Travelers are required to be vaccinated against diseases like yellow fever before visiting countries where those illnesses are common. And health care workers are required to get annual flu shots to protect themselves and their patients.
5. Approval will allow the prescribing of vaccines for "off-label" use.
When physicians talk about using drugs "off label," they mean using them for purposes other than those for which they were initially approved. For example, Metformin, which is approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, reduces appetite -- so it's often used to help patients who are trying to lose weight.
Off-label prescribing is legal -- but only when drugs have received full approval by the FDA. Once this happens with COVID-19 vaccines, doctors will be able to further study their use in treating a variety of other illnesses.
Off-label use includes delivering booster shots outside of the FDA's fully approved parameters -- and while booster shots weren't initially included in the COVID-19 vaccines' application for full approval, companies can request an approved product be amended to include boosters. The FDA's approval could thus make a third shot more palatable to the population.
Despite everything we know about the COVID-19 vaccines' effectiveness and their ability to prevent serious illness and hospitalizations, just 60% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against the virus, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most recent model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation indicates grave consequences if Americans don't continue to get vaccinated and follow mask guidance.
Given that the delta variant has led to an uptick in infections and deaths, it's crucial that Americans use every tool at our disposal to convince every person to get vaccinated. If full FDA approval of vaccines is one of those tools, then the decision can't come fast enough.
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5 good reasons for the FDA to give full approval to COVID-19 vaccines: Analysis - ABC News
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, seen in 2016, has asked residents to stop watering lawns and washing cars for a least a week, and the reason tracks back to the COVID-19 surge. Michael Conroy/AP hide caption
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, seen in 2016, has asked residents to stop watering lawns and washing cars for a least a week, and the reason tracks back to the COVID-19 surge.
ORLANDO, Fla. The mayor of the Florida city of Orlando asked residents on Friday to stop watering their lawns and washing their cars immediately, saying water usage needed to be cut back because of the recent surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations.
The Orlando Utility Commission treats the city's water with liquid oxygen and supplies that ordinarily go toward water treatment have been diverted to hospitals for patients suffering from the virus, Mayor Buddy Dyer said.
"We acknowledge that the No. 1 priority for the liquid oxygen should be for hospitals," Dyer said at a news conference.
The city-owned utility typically goes through 10 trucks of liquid oxygen a week but its supplier recently said that it would be cut back to five to seven trucks a week to accommodate hospitals, said Linda Ferrone, OUC's chief customer and marketing officer.
About 40% of the utility commission's potable water is used for irrigation so any strains on the water supply will be greatly reduced if residents stop watering their lawns, washing their cars or using pressure washers, she said.
On its website, the utility said residents should prepare to follow the conservation measures for at least two weeks.
"We realize this is drastic and unprecedented," Ferrone said. "If worse came to worse, we would have to look at a boil water alert."
Since the 1990s, the utility has used liquid oxygen to remove the slight discoloration and rotten-egg smell that is found naturally in Florida's water supply.
Officials at one of the Orlando area's largest health care systems said this week that they had 1,620 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, twice the level of what it was during last winter's peak high for AdventHealth.
"This is unfortunately a crisis of unprecedented proportions," said Dr. Vincent Hsu, executive director of infection prevention and epidemiologist at AdventHealth.
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Florida Mayor Says Save Water Because Of The COVID-19 Surge - NPR
