Summit County COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise as drive-thru testing begins

Greater Akron now teeters on the edge of a record-breaking number of COVID-19 hospitalizations.

On Tuesday, all four Summit County hospitals reported a rise in the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19, falling just two patients short of the grim record that happened about this time last year.

In total, 316 patients were hospitalized in Summit County. That's two less than were hospitalized on Dec. 15, 2020, before COVID-19 vaccinations were available to most people.

'So many patients die': A look inside a local COVID unit where beds are full, staff is exhausted

Marlene Martin, administrative coordinator for Summit County Public Health, said the rise in hospitalizations was expected because the level of cases overall is higher.

"It's not what we wanted to see, obviously," she said, adding that people should "get vaccinated, get boosted and avoid hanging out in groups" where the virus can spread.

While vaccines and boosters may not prevent everyone from becoming infected with COVID, health officials have said they do prevent most people from becoming seriously ill or dying from COVID.

Instead of going to a party at a restaurant or a bar for New Years, consider getting food and drinks to go, Martin said.

"Of course we want to support our local businesses and restaurants," she said, "but we also have extremely high case counts right now. Stay safe. Do take-out instead."

Drive-thru testing begins

Summit County residents, meanwhile, are anxious to get tested for COVID-19, either because they have symptoms or because they want to know if it's safe to mingle with others as New Year's Eve approaches.

Drive-thru testing: COVID-19 hospitalizations edge up in Summit County. Drive-thru testing starts Tuesday

On Tuesday, hundreds of idling cars, SUVs and trucks lined up on the first day of drive-thru testing at the corporate offices of Summa Health at 1077 Gorge Boulevard in Akron.

Members of the Ohio National Guard are helping with the drive-thru testing, along with another one in Cleveland.

The line moved quickly, with most swab tests taking about a minute.

Tuesday morning, the website (tinyurl.com/summitcountycovid-19testing) to sign up for a drive-thru test time said there were no more appointments available. But by noontime, the website showed lots of appointments had opened up Tuesday and beyond.

Drive-thru testing is available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily except Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. The test site will be open seven days a week beginning Jan. 2 and will remain open until there's no longer a demand.

The drive-thru aims to ease the surge in demand for COVID-19 tests.

On Monday, Summit County public health officials distributed about 7,000 home tests in about two hours. It is unclear when officials may receive more.

Stores, brick-and-mortar and online, also are struggling to keep the home testing kits in stock, but testing appointments were still available this week online at some urgent care and drug-store based clinics. Health insurers usually cover the costs of those tests

Health care workers: 'We're not OK'

This latest surge of COVID-19 has health care workers stressed and many looking for other jobs. They're not only overwhelmed with work — many say they're facing rude patients and their families.

Last week, State Rep. Casey Weinstein apologized after tweeting that a major hospital network CEO reported that there are 25 incidents of families "attacking" staff every day after the hospital called his statements "100% false."

"In trying to share my concerns about the very real issues relayed to me of increasing aggressive incidents against medical personnel, I clouded the message by implying that the incidents are coming only from unvaccinated COVID patient families when they are actually coming from across the patient/family spectrum, due in part to the massive strain on our hospital systems right now," he said.

An advanced practice provider at Akron Children's Hospital said she was glad Weinstein raised the issue. She talked about her experience with the Beacon Journal this week on the condition she not be named to protect her job.

The woman, who has more than 10 years experience, said her husband wants her to leave her job if the stress gets any worse.

"Yes we can physically and mentally perform tasks and take care of patients but we are going home being worn down, worn out," she said. "It broke my heart when a doctor told me recently that she hated her job."

The woman said things only got worse since life-saving vaccines were released and the the anti-vaccination movement arose.

"When it became more political than ever, that is when there was just this turn," she said.

Early in the pandemic, she said they faced shortages of personal protective equipment. Now they have PPE, but they don't have the staff.

Parents of patients often unload their frustration on staff if they mention vaccine or if a procedure has to be canceled or postponed because of a positive COVID-19 test or symptoms, she said.

Staff "are like, 'I don’t want to be yelled at in the face all day by parents of patients.' They’re done," she said. "And it's terrifying to think of losing all of these good providers."

The woman said she told Weinstein that many nurses are leaving hospitals to take jobs at travel nursing agencies where they can earn $3,000 to $4,000 a week, "which is an insane amount of money."

Many are senior nurses, the people who usually train the younger nurses.

"As a mother myself, that scares (me)," she said.

The woman said Children's has an employee hotline assistance number to call for help. It's also launching a new program teaching calming breathing exercises.

"It's just like everyone is depressed and burned out," she said, wondering aloud if patient families even see them as human.

Not long ago, the woman said she was picking up a prescription at a drive-thru and asked the clerk how she was doing.

The clerk dropped her shoulders and she said was hanging in there. Then the clerk thanked the woman and said she was the first person in quite a while to ask.

"And it just hit me to the core how we as a society have forgotten to ask people if they’re OK," she said. "And right now, the health care providers, we’re not OK."

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron COVID-19 drive-thru testing begins as hospitalizations rise