Boone County COVID-19 hospitalizations set pandemic records
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Boone County set two COVID-19 records on Wednesday with 95 hospitalizations and 31 patients in ICU beds.
The county was also just shy of hitting the previous day's record of 20 patients on ventilators.
Those numbers have continued to rise on Thursday. Boone County hospitalizations are now up to 96 with 33 patients in ICU beds. Both numbers are new records.
The number of patients on ventilators has started to go down however, with 18 patients using the machines.
Boone County Assistant Health Director Scott Clardy said while the trends are alarming, they are not cause for immediate concern within hospitals.
Clardy went on to say hospitals are prepared and can operate with a surge of cases. That is why the health department doesn't see the need to take drastic actions such as imposing a stay-at-home order.
Clardy added area hospitals have been running at max capacity for short periods of time recently.
Both Mayor Brian Treece and MU Health Care Associate Chief Medical Officer Mark Wakefield, MD. are concerned about staffing in the future.
Treece said while we have plenty of excess capacity within our hospitals his concern is having enough staff to staff those beds if they become full.
Dr. Wakefield shared some of the same concern, saying University Hospital will need to think of a contingency plan if increases continue.
The Mayor said city leaders are in constant contact with hospital administrators as well as public health experts in places such as St. Louis and Springfield.
Treece said they're trying to ensure the hospitals in the county have everything they need to operate.
While occasionally having to run at max capacity, hospitals are not reporting any shortages in relation to ICU beds, ventilators, or PPE.
Clardy said most hospitals will have all of their COVID-19 patients together, meaning a patient can be in the ICU even though they may not need to be.
He added a trigger for one hospital being at capacity, may not be the same for others.
The increase in hospitalizations are not necessarily a reflection of the increase in cases in the county.
Clardy said hospitalizations are a lagging indicator. He said these hospitalizations were likely indicative of a surge we had 2-3 weeks ago.
The assistant director also said it's important to note not all hospitalizations are from Boone County residents.
As Mid-Missouri moves into the winter months, Clardy said he expects hospitalization numbers to continue to increase in the county.
Dr. Wakefield also chimed in on the subject and said he does not expect hospitalizations to go down anytime in the near future.
