COVID-19 on the rise post-holiday season
EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — A post-holiday COVID-19 surge is hitting many parts of the country. According to national data from the CDC, COVID-19-positive tests, as well as hospitalizations, and emergency room visits are on the rise.
The data we’re seeing nationally is similar to what health experts say we’re seeing in hospitals across our area.
In addition to COVID-19 cases, the experts say they’re seeing high numbers of other respiratory infections, but they say the post-holiday sickness surge is nothing new.
“To go back to this high rate of COVID you’d have to go back to December of 2022 kind of beginning of January 2023,” stated Dr. Stanley Martin, director of infectious diseases at Geisinger Health System
Dr. Martin says the COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and emergency room visits are similar to what they saw this time last year at their hospitals.
“If you come in to get a COVID test because you have systems that could be consistent with COVID-19, right now you’re looking at maybe about a thirteen percent chance or so if it comes back positive for COVID,” explained Dr. Martin.
Kady McGlynn, associate director of personal health for the Wilkes-Barre Health Department, oversees spreadable disease investigations like COVID-19, the flu, and RSV. She says in Luzerne County, we are at a medium rate of hospitalizations.
“For ER visits we are increasing for the northeast region. So think from the end of November to the end of December. So both ER admissions with COVID diagnoses are increasing and hospitalizations as well.”
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Dr. Martin says at Geisinger, they’re at over one hundred percent of their inpatient capacity. He says this is due to the covid-19 surge, and the rise of other viral respiratory infections.
“That’s a problem in the sense that it does kind of have effects throughout the healthcare system, right?” said Dr. Martin.
He says these high numbers put a strain on staff and patients.
“It makes it harder for us to care for every patient. It makes it harder to get other things done in healthcare,” expressed Dr. Martin.
But there is a positive: Dr. Martin says with this surge, they haven’t seen as many ICU visits compared to last year. He says this is because we have some degree of immunity as a population, so severe infections aren’t as common, but they haven’t gone away entirely.
He says the severity of an infection can vary with things like age, pre-existing conditions, and vaccination status.
Overall, experts say when it comes to this surge of COVID-19, you should stay calm, informed, and up to date on vaccines.
“It’s always best to just take a step back and think about those prevention measures and how you can best implement them for you and your family,” explained McGlynn.
“At the end of the day, it is a preventable problem,” said Dr. Martin.
According to the CDC, the most dominant variant they’re seeing nationwide is the jn.1 variant.
It’s a descendant of the omicron variant.
The CDC says the variant is highly transmissible, but it does not appear to be more severe than previous variants.
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