Official: Delta variant cases peak

Hospitals continue to be packed as population health worsens

The Delta variant cases in the county appear to have plateaued with numbers declining for the second straight week, a health official reported Sept. 28 in a meeting of the Lorain County Community Protection Team.

Lorain County Public Health Commissioner Dave Covell said even with case counts on the decline, he continued to encourage the community to get vaccinated, calling it the best tool available to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and lead to herd immunity.

With Pfizer booster shots now available for individuals age 65 and older along with those 50 and older with underlying health conditions, local residents can receive the booster shot six months postvaccination.

“I would stress this, if you’re 65 and over, and have some kind of underlying condition in any way, that’s the time to get the booster,” Covell said “… If you’re 65 and over and healthy, you should still get one, but again, just make an appointment over the next few weeks and you’ll have that opportunity.”

The health commissioner noted the booster shot is not a mad rush and vaccinated individuals are well protected with the booster providing another layer to that protection.

Unvaccinated people continue to lead the way in hospitalizations, Covell said.

“But again, remember it’s about unvaccinated people who are really having the worst health outcomes,” he said. “I want to stress that as much as I can.”

The booster can help in certain scenarios, but Covell made it clear that saying, “we aren’t going to booster our way out of the pandemic and getting vaccinated and taking common sense protective measures to slow the spread is our best chance of continuing to reduce case counts.”

Covell added individuals wanting to get the booster can sign up for an appointment with the Lorain County Public Health or at a local pharmacy.

He encouraged people to avoid going to hospitals to get the booster, with health care settings already overwhelmed.

The Moderna booster is not yet available with Lorain County Public Health waiting for a timeline.

Dr. Rebecca Starck, president of Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital, agreed Delta cases are falling, but with hospitals experiencing a two-week lag in the numbers, they are full with limited bed capacity and staffing issues.

“We are full,” Starck said. “We are very strained with bed capacity currently. We’re seeing it; it’s real and it’s still here and around us.

“And that factored along with our challenges around health care workers, has really created a bit of a perfect storm for us. We’re managing, but it is a challenge every single day looking after all the patients coming through our emergency department, looking for care, seeking care and those who are very sick, very ill both from COVID as well as non-COVID related conditions.”

Starck encouraged patients with mild symptoms to seek alternative locations to get tested other than emergency rooms, with long waits expected, and wanting to preserve resources for those in need of acute care.

Charlotte Wray, chief nursing officer at Mercy Health-Lorain Hospital, explained most staffers are working on ways to decompress the emergency rooms.

Wray added that like many industries, the hospital had to cast wider nets in securing personnel.

“I never thought we would, at this day, still be struggling with the coronavirus,” Wray said. “And we’re not going to get out of this until we have a herd immunity level and we are not there yet.”

The two hospital leaders agreed that in the past year, everyone the community as a whole is more ill with people being treated for all sorts of non COVID related issues.

“There’s no question that our patients, it’s not just COVID, people are sicker,” Starck said. “Whether or not it was from a year of deferred care, it’s really quite impressive.

“When we see the acuity of the people who are in our hospitals, there’s no question. Everyone is sicker. It seems that the pandemic clearly precipitated it, but then all the other issues surrounding the pandemic as well made it even more pronounced.

“And so, that’s definitely what we’re seeing.”