PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Hospitalizations continue to set records across Virginia.
As of Tuesday morning, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reported 1,757 patients were being treated for COVID 19, that’s up 17% over last week.
“That eclipses the high number that we had back in the spring in the first wave of the pandemic,” said Julian Walker, a spokesperson for VHHA.
As of Tuesday, the VHHA dashboard noted 398 COVID patients are being treated in intensive-care units and of those, 173 are on ventilators. That is the most since the surge in early summer.
Also, according to numbers from VHHA we are nowhere near panic mode.
“There are still thousands of beds available in Virginia hospitals right now so treatment capacity is not a challenge at this moment,” Walker told WAVY.com.
There are more than 3,717 in-patient beds available across the commonwealth, and Virginia has never touched one of the nearly 3,695 more beds the Governor ordered under an emergency declaration in the spring.
Walker said it’s not just beds that are of concern.
“It doesn’t become of question of so much of capacity in terms of bed availability, but it does become a question of staff availability to provide care and treatment to people that are hospitalized.”
The more people with COVID in hospitals, the more the risk of exposure to staff and the more stress they experience.
Chesapeake Regional Medical Center opened meditation rooms to give front line workers some relief and Sentara assures 10 On Your Side its hospitals have plenty of PPE for protection.
So far, nearly 24,393 Virginians treated in hospitals for COVID have gone home to recover.
Walker affirms that is a positive number but he insists the situation inside Virginia hospitals moving forward will depend on the public’s actions outside.
“The advice has been consistent that people need to take seriously their duty and their responsibility to practice personal safety behaviors.”
That means wearing masks, social distancing and washing your hands frequently.