Hospitalization of children with COVID-19 “has increased eight-fold since December,” says the CEO.

Cincinnati (WXIX)-COVID-19 admissions at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have increased “8-fold” in the last six weeks and are now over 60, the hospital’s president and CEO said Wednesday.

“In the early stages, we didn’t see anything near this surge,” said Dr. Steve Davis.

As with adult hospitalization, the majority of children hospitalized are unvaccinated children. This is because they are not old enough or their parents have chosen not to receive injections, and if they are vaccinated, their symptoms will be mild and if they are vaccinated, they will be more severe. That’s not the case, he said.

Despite the surge in cases of COVID-19 in children, Dr. Davis says it’s best for children to be in school and supports Cincinnati Public Schools returning to face-to-face learning next week. ..

“The timing for them to return to school is right. They were really influenced,” Davis said.

He also said that Cleveland healthcare professionals have reported fewer cases than they are now after the peak earlier this month, and Columbus’s say their cases have leveled off.

According to health commissioner Greg Kesterman, the trend has not yet spread to Cincinnati and Hamilton County, and we have not yet peaked.

The county remains in a state of emergency due to an increasing number of cases from highly contagious variants of Omicron.

The number of confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths was not as high as it is today, says county leaders.

As of Wednesday, Hamilton County recorded 167,931 positive cases, an increase of 16,118 cases from last week.

The death toll increased by 91 from last week to 5,138.

“Last week, 30 people died in COVID-19,” Denise Driehaus said Wednesday.

The county commissioner approved a 60-day state of emergency earlier this month due to the high levels of infection in the county community.

Urgent designations will enhance the ability of county managers to purchase large numbers of rapid tests, they say.

The Declaration will also rejuvenate the Hamilton County Emergency Operations Center, coordinate response efforts and revive daily COVID-19 briefings.

Hamilton County reported 17,112 cases and 15 deaths during the week ending Sunday, according to Dolly House.

This is an increase of 33.5% compared to the previous week when the county recorded 12,815 cases and 2 deaths.

According to Kesterman, the county’s positive rate is currently around 30%.

“We’re not outside the woods and we’re still seeing a dramatic increase in positive cases in Hamilton County,” said Dolly House.

She urged the general public to go online and sign up for the four free COVID-19 tests currently offered by the federal government. She also encouraged vaccinations, boosters and continued masking.

As a result of the unprecedented number of cases, the medical system has become full, and the CEO of Christ Hospital said that not only COVID-19 cases, but also other patients in need of life-saving treatment are “100% full of beds” here. Has been done. “

There is a long waiting time for transfer from the emergency room or other medical facility in the area to the hospital.

Procedures that do not endanger the patient’s immediate health or well-being or contribute to the exacerbation of a serious life-threatening condition have been delayed.

Currently, more than 1,000 people are admitted to local hospitals with COVID-19. Almost 200 (191) of them are in the ICU unit, of which 148 are in the ventilator.

Members of the Ohio National Guard arrived at a hospital in Cincinnati earlier this week to help with staff shortages.

They were trained on Monday for in-hospital support provided at Christ Hospital and the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

They support patient transport, food services and other non-clinical work.

This was the first county COVID-19 briefing since thousands of fans gathered at the outdoor Paul Brown Stadium to see the Bengals in the playoffs on Saturday.

According to Kesterman, it’s too early to know how the large rally affected the county’s COVID-19 numbers.

Last week, county leaders recommended that fans go to Paul Brown Stadium only if they were fully vaccinated, boosted, and wore a mask.

According to a Bengals spokeswoman, the stadium has no vaccination or mask requirements.

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