The number of COVID patients at The University of Kansas Health System continues to climb today. 43 with the active virus are being treated, up from 39 yesterday. Only one of those patients is vaccinated.11 COVID patients are in the ICU, down from 12 yesterday. Six are on ventilators, down from eight yesterday. 21 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID but are out of the acute infection phase, up from 19 yesterday. That’s a total of 64 patients, up from 58 yesterday.
Doctors postponed the scheduled topic today to devote the entire Open Mics With Dr. Stites time to the surge in COVID cases. The guests were Dr. Catherine Satterwhite, Region 7 health administrator for Health and Human Services, Dr. Nathan Bahr, infectious disease physician and Chelsey Smith, Outreach & Communications Coordinator with the Community Blood Center. They joined Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer and Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control to update what is being called a very steep increase in COVID admissions to hospitals across the metro. The regularly scheduled update about new technology to treat tremors will be shared in the new year.
“Things are on fire!” That’s how Dr. Stites began and showed the COVID heat map of the country to explain. He described how the virus is coming through the Midwest and called it “very concerning,” and said the omicron spread is doubling every two to three days. He also shared the local COVID rate and its steep curve showing it near the biggest surge we’ve had in the pandemic. He’s very worried because hospitals are already full and new cases of COVID may keep people who are sick and have a time sensitive diagnosis from getting care. He says, “This is a challenging time because we’re so darn tired of following the rules. But with omicron coming for the holidays, people not wearing masks, gathering indoors and not enough of us vaccinated, this may be our greatest challenge.”
Dr. Satterwhite oversees Region 7, which includes Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. She’s concerned that COVID admissions are up about three percent all over the region. But she points to Region 2, which is New York and New Jersey, and says their rate is up 13 percent. She’s worried because what happens in Region 2 usually happens in Region seven as the virus spreads across the country. Even if omicron is not as severe, she says it can still put people in the hospital, and since it’s more transmissible than delta, it threatens to place a tremendous burden on hospitals.
Dr. Bahr calls it “hugely concerning” that schools and communities are ending mask mandates just as this new surge is here and stresses why they are necessary now more than ever. He says, “It’s so easy and it’s so effective and is something you can do for your community that will help those numbers look better and stop that trend from going straight up.” He’s also worried that many of the therapies such as monoclonal antibodies are not going to be effective against omicron.
Dr. Hawkinson noted that the great flu pandemic of 1918 lasted for several years and this pandemic might be the same. He says it’s become a pandemic of two populations, the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, with the vast majority of those hospitalized and dying not vaccinated. He reminded us that just like the flu shot doesn’t stop the flu but keeps the symptoms from being severe, the COVID vaccine works the same way.
Doctors also noted the city is critically low on blood. Chelsey Smith from the Community Blood Center says they currently have a three to four day supply, but that will likely drop in the next few weeks with the holidays. She urged everyone to call 877-468-6844 or go to savealifenow.org as soon as possible to make a donation appointment.
Thursday, December 16 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. You'll meet some Pleasant Hill Students whose teacher gave them a special assignment related to the pandemic. These students have their eyes on careers in medical professions and their insight and stories are truly remarkable. You will enjoy our young guests tomorrow.
NOTE: Journalists should rejoin the Morning Medical Update at 8am as doctors are growing too busy again for individual interview requests. Please bring questions or send to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu until further notice. Thanks for all you do and helping to keep the community safe with your reporting.
ATTENTION: media procedure for calling in:
The meeting is available by Zoom, both video and by phone. To join the Zoom Meeting by video, click https://kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/7828978628
Telephone dial-in Participants: For those without Zoom, call 1-312-626-6799, meeting ID: 782 897 8628.
The feed is also available via TVU grid. The TVU source is UoK_Health and is being made available to all.
Feel free to send questions in advance to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.