Montgomery Co. still on high alert
Data show 732 new cases in two weeks, rising hospital visits.
Montgomery County remains on a high alert under the monitoring system for coronavirus risk, with 732 new cases reported in two weeks and rising ER and outpatient visits for COVID-19.
The new COVID-19 case data and health care data were shared Thursday afternoon as part of the weekly update on what the level of coronavirus spread is in each Ohio county. Alerts are posted on coronavirus.ohio.gov.
The Ohio Public Health Advisory Alert System has four levels of alerts, based on seven different indicators of how prolific coronavirus spread is a community. A level four alert is the highest alert level and means that people in that county are advised to only go out in public for essentials.
Montgomery County is at a level three alert. People in counties considered level three are advised to decrease in-person interactions with others, consider necessary travel only, and limit attending gatherings of any number. Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County said in a statement that with the level three alert, everyone should work from home where possible, no one should attend large social events, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems should stay at home as much as possible, churches are encouraged to provide in-vehicle or online services, and personal travel should
be limited. More guidance is at phdmc.org.
Due to the uncontrolled surge of cases of COVID-19 in the area, some of which are linked to large parties, Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County is advising people not to host or attend large gatherings, stat- ing that while private homes are exempt from the 10-per- son mass gathering limit in Ohio, hosting such an event is “creating a significant risk for you and your guests and endangering the community at large.”
People who hold gather- ings are advised to limit the group to less than 10 people, keep a list of names and con- tact information of everyone, have the event outside, wear masks when near each other, don’t share food and keep at minimum 6 feet apart.
Under the new data released Thursday, as of July 21, Montgomery County had 732 cases during the past 14 days, which is considered “high incidence” by the CDC definition. Cases increased from an average of 63 cases on July 1 to 70 cases on July 16.
From July 1 to July 15, visits for COVID-19 to the emer- gency department increased from an average of 14 per day to 18.
More people are also visit- ing their doctors and being diagnosed with COVID-19. From July 1 to July 14, outpatient visits increased from an average of 49 visits per day to 79.
In recent weeks, more than 60% of the cases are not in congregate settings, such as nursing homes. This is a signal of transmission in the broader community, where if most cases are in congregate settings that’s a more contained outbreak that needs less sweeping measures.
Recent outbreaks in Montgomery County include longterm care facilities, day cares, and workplaces.
Montgomery County is part of an eight-county region that is coordinating on bed capacity during the public health emergency, and there are about 375 ICU beds in the region. A little under 80% of ICU beds were occupied as of July 22 and a little under 10% were occupied with COVID-19 patients. The threshold for concern under the alert system is at least 80% of the region’s ICU beds occupied and 20% occupied with COVID-19 patients.
Sarah Hackenbract, CEO of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association, which is monitoring bed capacity, said the reason that the data doesn’t just monitor Montgomery County ICU bed capacity, but rather the region’s capacity, is because during emergencies situations hospitals coordinate together to meet the capacity needs.
Hackenbract said when hospitals are operating efficiently in normal times, they are often at the 75-85% mark. The 20% benchmark for COVID-19 patients is because they are often hospitalized for longer periods of time than other patients and Hackenbracht said it is important to distinguish between patients.
“We need our hospitals to have a certain number of patients in them for all of the machines, equipment and staff to be used efficiently all across that large organization,” she said.