ODH issues warning as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations surge across the state

COLUMBUS — As more COVID-19 cases have been reported across the state, the Ohio Department of Health is warning about hospital capacity as more Ohioans are requiring hospitalizations.

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On Thursday, the state reported over 5,000 new cases, the first time since January that a one-day increase was over the 5,000 mark, Ohio Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said during a news conference Friday. As cases have increased so have hospitalizations over the last month and more cases are now threatening hospital capabilities, Vanderhoff said.

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As of Friday, one out of every 10 people in an Ohio hospital are receiving treatment for COVID-19, and one out of every six people in ICUs are receiving treatment, Vanderhoff said. Looking at previous data, on July 9 Ohio had around 200 people across the state hospitalized for COVID-19, however as of Thursday that number was around 2,000 hospitalizations, an increase of 10 times from just seven weeks ago, Vanderhoff said.

“Our real concern is that our hospitals are busier than ever,” Vanderhoff said. “These are troubling facts that really have us and our hospitals very concerned.”

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“We need to all do our very best to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in part to allow our hospitals to be in a good position to continue to provide the necessary care that so many Ohioans need,” he said.

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The hospital capacity issue has some hospitals in the state making changes to treat patients, including some central Ohio hospitals choosing to delay some elective surgical procedures, if they require an in-patient bed.

“This is going to be a difficult road if cases don’t peak soon and hospitalizations don’t peak soon,” Dr. Andrew Thomas, Chief Clinical Officer at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center said during the news conference.

The overwhelming majority of hospitalizations are among people who are unvaccinated, but Vanderhoff acknowledged vaccination rates have increased as the state passed the 60 percent mark earlier this month. He said increasing vaccination rates are important in all ages 12 and older, especially to keep students in in-person learning settings.

“(By getting vaccinated) What we’re doing is reducing the opportunities to spread, mutate, and inflict serious medical harm. And we get closer to the day when this virus can no longer upend our lives,” Vanderhoff said.

Dr. Richard P. Lofgren, President and Chief Executive Officer of UC Health in Cincinnati said there have been some breakthrough cases among vaccinated individuals but said most of those have been among people with underlying conditions.

“The vast majority of people (hospitalized in the recent surge) are unvaccinated. We have seen patients hospitalized with what we call ‘breakthrough’ meaning they are vaccinated but they did acquire it. Most of those people have significant, underlying immunodeficiencies, which really speaks to the fact that the vast majority of people that acquire this disease to the point they require hospitalization are in fact unvaccinated,” Lofgren said.

With the increase in cases also comes with an increased demand for testing and Vanderhoff said the request for testing at area hospitals has been high. He encouraged people just seeing confirmation of a positive test, with minimal symptoms, to seek other testing options such as pharmacies or even some libraries that offer a take-home rapid test at no cost.

Vanderhoff said the state has started to see a growing demand for monoclonal antibody treatments in the state and more physicians across the state are using it as a treatment for COVID-19. Vanderhoff added the state has a good supply of the treatment for those who have it prescribed.

However, despite the treatment decreasing the risk of admission into a hospital by 70 percent for those deemed a high risk, physicians are seeing patients decline the treatment.

“We’re now seeing some unvaccinated patients turning-down the monoclonal antibody treatment because they basically are saying ‘I didn’t want to get vaccinated I don’t want any of this either,’” Thomas said.

“When you think about short-sided decisions, this is a medication that if you are a high-risk for admission to the hospital for severe disease from COVID it can reduce your risk by 70 percent. And people are turning down that treatment, because, I don’t really understand why.”

Thomas said the treatment is a single infusion that takes about an hour or less to administer.

The increase in hospitalizations and the strain of hospital resources has also been felt with hospital staffs that have lost employees over the year for a variety of reasons.

Thomas said since mid-spring, hospitals have lost staff members from the toll the pandemic has taken, including people taking early retirements or leaving because they were burned out. However, Thomas said he’s not aware of staffing issues being caused by any vaccine mandates, and workers quitting, across Ohio hospital networks.

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