COVID HOSPITALIZATIONS SURPASS 60
After taking a slight dip on Tuesday, the number of patients hospitalized at EAMC from COVID-19 increased on Wednesday to eclipse the 60 mark. “As of 10 a.m. today, our count was 62 confirmed cases currently hospitalized, one pending case and eight patients with COVID-19 on ventilators,” stated John Atkinson, EAMC spokesperson.
“We liked the decrease yesterday, and hoped it would continue today,” stated Atkinson. “As Dr. Maldonado mentioned on Monday, we expect to reach a peak in the next few days. It’s too early to expect a decline based on the statewide mask mandate—hopefully we will start to see the impact from it early next week.”
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT SEES INCREASE
Through the first three weeks of July, the average number of daily visits to EAMC’s Emergency Department (ED) was 117. On average, Friday - Monday have been the busiest days with 120-140 visits per day. The ED is currently seeing about 34 - 38 patients per day who cite COVID-19 symptoms as their primary reason for the visit. Yesterday (July 21), the ED tested 34 patients for COVID-19 and 9 of them were positive for a positivity rate of 26.5 percent. That is up significantly from last week when the positivity rate was between 7 – 11 percent each day. So far this month, the ED has admitted an average of 4 COVID patients a day, but that number is rising as an average of 6 COVID patients per day this week have been admitted to the hospital, including 9 on Sunday.
Patients needing emergency care should still visit the Emergency Department. However, for testing needs alone, it is recommended that people check with their primary care physician, an urgent care office, local pharmacies or by calling 334-528-SICK to see if they are eligible for testing.
EARLY COVID PATIENT REFLECTS ON HER JOURNEY
“My COVID-19 story began when our church celebrated our pastor’s anniversary the weekend of March 15,” said Lisa Askew. “Unknowing to our congregation, there were people that visited who had been exposed to the virus. I believe I contracted the virus at this event. I had symptoms the following week, and I attributed them to allergies. I took some over-the-counter medicine, but instead of getting better, it got worse. I began to notice I didn’t have any taste, and I could not smell anything. It never occurred to me that I could have COVID-19.” Read Lisa’s full story here:https://bit.ly/2CItwY7
MYTH vs. FACT
Myth: The number of cases continue to rise because some people get tested more than once and each positive test counts as a new case.
Fact: An individual person is counted as a new CASE one time, regardless of how many positive TESTS they eventually receive. For example, if a person tests positive in the community, they are entered into the state database as a positive CASE. Then, that same person gets sicker and needs hospitalization. They would be tested here, but their positive TEST would be not count as a new CASE. As of today, there have been 4,653,438 positive TESTS in the U.S., but there are only 3,882,167 confirmed CASES. (Source: CDC.gov)