Hospitals: Surge could overwhelm us in weeks

Early warning signs of the pandemic’s resurgence in Ohio are starting to show and the CEOS of all four Columbus-area hospital systems fear the state is just weeks away from being overwhelmed by the latest wave of COVID-19.

Columbus-area hospitals are already planning for the worst as cases continue to climb, hitting 5,395 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, the highest since Jan. 28.

The spike in cases is due to the delta variant of COVID-19 which is “changing the game,” CEOS Lorraine Lutton of Mount Carmel, Dr. Steve Markovich of Ohiohealth, Dr. Hal Paz of Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center and Tim Robinson of Nationwide Children’s Hospital wrote in a letter published on Dispatch.com and which will appear in Saturday’s Dispatch.

“That safety net is now in jeopardy, due to the surging spread of COVID-19 infection and rising hospitalizations,” the CEOS wrote. “In the last four