The omicron variant has swiftly blanketed the US over the past several months. Many states are seeing a decrease in the positivity rate, but Nebraska is still seeing its surge.
While it is true lucky hosts of the virus may experience mild to no symptoms, others feel like they have been infected with a rhinovirus, commonly known as the common cold. Some hosts may have far more severe symptoms that require hospitalization. On January 10, 2022, Reuters reported hospitalizations related to COVID were at a record high in the US. More people than any other time during the pandemic were hospitalized with COVID in January.
“Current hospitalizations are one of the most reliable measures of the severity of the pandemic over time because they are not influenced by testing availability or by spikes in minor cases,” Jesus Jiménez, a reporter for the New York Times said.
As cases begin to rise due to the outbreak of the Omnicron variant, hospitals are filling with patients, many fighting for their lives. This leaves little to no room or beds for others.
“We could see a doubling of hospitalizations due to COVID in Nebraska over the next two to three weeks. That alone would overwhelm our healthcare system, but we’re also facing one of the worst staffing challenges we’ve had during COVID,” Dr. Jeremy Nordquist, president of the Nebraska Hospital Association said.
On Monday, the state’s total number of persons hospitalized with the illness reached 602. Although it is still below the recent high of 637 from December 13, it has been steadily rising since Christmas Day. Over the last two weeks, the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska has risen from 540 new cases per day on December 25 to 3,152 new cases per day in the past week. With the overflowing of hospitals, there has been a constant need for more nurses and doctors within the intensive care units dealing with COVID-19.
“We’ve offered insane amounts of overtime. People won’t take it because they can’t, they just mentally or physically cannot anymore. And it is heartbreaking to look at that situation and think that we may have to deliver substandard care, practice outside of our normal standards of care and just try to piece together, you know, care for patients. I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Jennifer Schrimsher, a physician at Lawrence Memorial Health said.
Ultimately, hospitals have never seen similar hospitalization surges in cases of the common cold or flu, making the influx of numbers a new problem with few answers. Medical staff everywhere are tired, overworked, and beginning to leave the profession.
“The demand is going up and the supply is going down, and that basically doesn’t paint a good picture for people and communities not just for COVID, but for everything else,” Dr. Mahshid Abir, an emergency physician at the University of Michigan who is a researcher at the RAND Corporation said.
Works Cited
Jiménez, J. (2022, January 28). Covid News: U.S. health worker mandate deadlines loom as Omicron Overwhelms Hospitals. The New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/19/world/omicron-covid-vaccine-tests
Safchik, J. (2022, January 4). ‘we’re really at our limit’: Local hospitals concerned about rise in hospitalizations. KETV. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.ketv.com/article/were-really-at-our-limit-local-hospitals-concerned-about-rise-in-hospitalizations/38658758
Sherman Smith, K. R. J. 5. (2022, January 5). ‘our most difficult point’: Unvaxxed Covid patients overflow hospitals as doctors beg for help. Kansas Reflector. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://kansasreflector.com/2022/01/05/our-most-difficult-point-unvaxxed-covid-patients-overflow-hospitals-as-doctors-beg-for-help/
