Number in hospital with coronavirus hits new high
Local nurse says virus continues to be ‘completely unpredictable’
The number of Ohioans hospitalized with the coronavirus reached an all-time high on Monday, even as the state reported fewer new cases of COVID-19.
Hitting a record Monday, 5,060 Ohioans remained hospitalized with COVID-19, including 1,180 in intensive care units and 682 on ventilators, according to the state.
The virus has proven erratic, Dara Pence, a nurse at Ohiohealth’s Riverside Methodist Hospital, said during Gov. Mike Dewine’s Monday COVID-19 briefing. Sometimes, patients who were previously young and healthy are coming in and struggling to fight the virus, she said.
“It’s completely unpredictable and we still don’t know what the long-term effects are for our patients,” Pence said. “It definitely does not hold any biases, and it can affect any patients from any background.”
The hospitalization record comes after the state
admitted 357 more virus patients as of Monday. That’s more than the threeweek average of 296 new hospitalizations reported per day, according to the state.
A additional 38 Ohioans were admitted to ICUS, which is more than the three-week average of 30 new ICU admissions a day, state data shows.
The situation in Ohio’s hospitals is “becoming quite serious,” said Dr. Andrew Thomas, chief clinical officer at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.
“They’re essentially going to start crowding out other people who need that level of care,” Thomas said of the influx in new COVID-19 patients.
Another 6,631 Ohioans tested positive for the coronavirus Monday, bringing the statewide total to 421,063 cases. Monday’s new cases were below the three-week average of 7,909 new cases reported per day, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
Dewine said he hopes declining new cases proves to be a trend, but on Monday cautioned that it’s too soon to tell.
When the pandemic started, many companies asked their employees to work from home to limit contact. On Tuesday, Dewine asked employers who have brought workers back to the office to again consider letting them work from home.
“We have to do everything we can during this very serious time when our hospitals are really being hit,” Dewine said.
The latest case data was incomplete because the Ohio Department of Health is reviewing thousands of reports amid a surge in COVID-19 testing, according to the state. Ohio’s seven-day average positive test rate for the virus increased to 14.5% on Monday.
As of Monday, the state reported an additional 30 Ohioans died of COVID-19, which is less than the three-week average of 43 new deaths reported per day, according to the state.
Two of the people who died from the virus recently were state prison workers, Dewine said.
Dewine said he will announce on Thursday more specific rollout plans for the first COVID-19 vaccines.
A vaccine from Pfizer could be distributed in Ohio as early as Dec. 15 and another one from Moderna could come as soon as Dec. 22, Dewine said. Both companies have applied for emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
Each vaccine requires two shots, and a limited number of doses are expected to be available this year to frontline health care workers and first responders. Results from vaccine trial for each company show the shots to be around 95% effective.
The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at extreme sub-zero temperatures, while the Moderna vaccine can be stored in a refrigerator for a few weeks, according to each company.
Franklin County added 580 new virus cases Monday, translating to just over a 1% increase in cases from the day before, data shows, and added no new deaths.
In total, Franklin County has reported 54,467 cases and 672 deaths since the pandemic began in March, according to the state. mfilby@dispatch.com @Maxfilby