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Healthcare workers gear up as COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — As coronavirus cases continue to rise, so do the number of people who are in the hospital fighting to recover from the virus.

On Tuesday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported another record high number of hospitalizations in the state, with 829 people currently in the hospital due to complications from COVID-19.

Along with the record number of hospitalizations, North Carolina is also still seeing a 7-day average of new cases above 1,000 cases a day.

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It’s the same story in Mecklenburg County -- which continues to lead the state in both cases and deaths with at least 7,468 and 129 respectively. During the past week alone, an average of 106 people were hospitalized in the county and that average hasn’t dropped since mid May.

Healthcare workers have been on the frontlines from the beginning. So far, hospitals have been able to handle all of the coronavirus patients, but that could change.

[COUNTY-BY-COUNTY COVID-19 RESOURCE GUIDE]

The Chief Clinical Officer for Novant Dr. Sid Fletcher told Channel 9 that too many people have let their guard down and are not wearing masks or social distancing. According to a study from the University of Maryland, social distancing is at a 3-month low in Mecklenburg County.

“Especially the last week or so we've seen concerning trends in the number of COVID positive patients that have required hospital admissions,” Fletcher said.

According to Fletcher, after a lull in caseloads in April, the numbers have gone back up again. She said healthcare workers are gearing up for even more hospitalizations.

“I don’t believe in the models that we’re seeing that we believe there’s going to be a massive spike. I do think that we think we’re bracing for a period of some sustained in patient need, so we are ready for that and approaching it that way,” she said.

Hospital beds across the state are about 75% full.

Fletcher said they expect the bed space at hospitals across our area to get tighter for a few reasons. The first is that more people are testing positive for the virus. Another reason is that in March, hospitals stopped doing elective procedures to open up bed space, but that has changed.

“We had a tremendous capacity in early April. We have much less capacity today. We have plenty of capacity to manage what we’re seeing but we are quite busy because we’ve had patients return to our emergency departments who needed care and needed admission, and we’ve had patients that needed surgeries or procedures who needed to get those things done that have also returned,” Fletcher said.

According to Fletcher if the case numbers keep going up local hospitals will be feeling the strain more than they have since the pandemic hit us in early March.

The growth in cases has also been largely attributed to the uptick in residents traveling to newly reopened businesses without following the recommended public safety guidelines.

Gov. Roy Cooper started gradually reopening businesses at the end of May, but issued a reminder last week that North Carolina is still under the “Safer at Home” phase -- which allows restaurants to have dine-in seating again and for barber shops and hair and nail salons to reopen.

The governor said he hopes to transition to a “Phase 2.5″ if the numbers start to improve.

Dr. Ryan Shelton with Tryon Medical Partners said the trend on hospitalizations could determine whether the state will enter the next phase.

“The most important trend to watch is the number of hospitalizations. That is a better predictor of what is going on in our community. That number is going back up quickly. Our ICU’s locally are much much busier that in early May,” Shelton said.

Cooper said he would make an announcement early next week about whether the state will move into a new phase of reopening on Friday, June 26.

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