MIAMI VALLEY — A continuing rise in COVID-19 related hospitalizations in the Miami Valley region has health leaders concerned as a now rising flu season also is adding another layer of impacts on area healthcare providers.
“I’m particularly concerned about what we will see over the next six to eight weeks,” said Sarah Hackenbracht, President and CEO of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association. “We know that people will continue to gather, because that is the nature of what we do around the holidays.”
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In the region that includes most of the Miami Valley, there were 386 people in the hospital with COVID-19 approaching the fall peak of 407 seen in mid-September, according to the Ohio Hospital Association.
Statewide, the picture is much different, where the spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations has surpassed the fall 2021 peak.
In two regions in northeast Ohio, which includes Akron and Cleveland, hospitalizations have already set a record for COVID-19 hospitalizations with both regions reporting the highest active hospitalizations related to the virus for the entire pandemic.
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At Cleveland Clinic nonessential surgeries are being postponed that require a hospital stay through Dec. 17 and scheduling of new non-urgent inpatient surgeries requiring a hospital stay are on hold through Jan. 3.
Cleveland Clinic reported that more than 80 percent of those hospitalized in their healthcare system with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, according to a report from Cleveland.com
As COVID-19 hospitalizations continue rising, the latest weekly flu report from the Ohio Department of Health also shows rising flu-related hospitalizations with a 164 percent increase in hospitalizations compared to last week.
“To continue increasing and doubling week-over-week is something that does concern us,” Hackenbracht said.
Nearly half of the hospitalizations due to the flu this season have happened in the Miami Valley and Cincinnati regions of the state.
State data shows that confirmed flu-related hospitalizations are now reporting week-over-week above the five-year average after a slower start to the season compared to normal. The five-year average does exclude last year’s flu season due to abnormally low flu numbers during the pandemic.
Hackenbracht said the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association is monitoring the weekly data from the state to guide any decisions the group will make.