Slammed by COVID-19, many U.S. hospitals have put off essential procedures. Delays are leading to consequences like heart attacks and sending people to emergency rooms to get care.
October marks the start of the annual flu season, which typically worsens as the mercury drops before ending around May. And with Georgia hospitals still packed with COVID-19 patients, a bad flu season could mean even more strain on already stressed health workers.
The state’s Covid cases and hospitalizations have dipped over the past week, Georgia health officials have reported. But that drop isn’t relieving the pressure on the front lines of hospitals — both smaller facilities and large urban centers.
COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to strain U.S. hospitals. NPR built a tool to explore trends around the country. Look up your local hospital to see how it's faring.
The Georgia World Congress Center will have an additional 60 beds as early as next week to help relieve overwhelmed hospitals, Gov. Brian Kemp said. Operations are expected to continue through the month of January as hospital staff continue to receive COVID-19 vaccinations from Pfizer and Moderna.
Many U.S. hospitals are struggling to find enough space and staff to treat COVID-19 patients. The surge in new cases has forced them to rethink how they use space, manage staff, and handle treatment.
Hospitals are getting so crowded with COVID-19 patients that they're having to resort to workarounds to treat them all. Experts warn this may hamper doctors' ability to save lives.
As COVID-19 cases increase, many rural communities, places which were largely spared during the early months of the pandemic, are now contending with a spike in infections and hospitalizations.
Doctors at one metro Atlanta hospital were greeted with a grim message on a whiteboard: “Morgue full.” Medics in southeast Georgia tended to sick patients in ambulances for 30 minutes to an hour in hopes a hospital bed would become free. An emergency room in middle Georgia overflowed so much stretchers lined the walls.
