January 7, 2022
Be careful out there
My cousin Nancy reminds me that we have entered a new phase of COVID-19. Omicron has spiked infections so quickly that businesses, schools, hospitals are affected. Not only from increasing COVID-19 cases needing hospitalizations and emergency care, but staffing shortages affected by Omicron infections. These shortages puts us all at risk if we get injured, have a car accident, fall from a ladder, have a stroke or heart attack.
Hospitalizations are surging here in Seattle and elsewhere. More children are hospitalized now than earlier in the pandemic, since they are too young for COVID shots. Cases are surging to new levels, which means increases in hospitalizations are sure to follow. The biggest effect of Omicron is on staffing. Omicron is so infectious that even careful staff are catching it. Our clinic has more people out than we have the entire pandemic. Even a mild case must isolate and stay away from work for at least 5 days, exacerbating the shortages. Surgeries are postponed, not enough first responders and ambulances to meet demand. Hospitals with no rooms available, so patients are “boarded” in the already overwhelmed ER’s.
We are lucky that Omicron so far is causing milder disease, but the immunocompromised and unvaccinated are at risk. Just by shear numbers, we will overwhelm health care workers and hospitals. We owe it to them and ourselves to stay safe. Wear a better mask, get boosted, and stay sensible. And as Nancy says, be careful, really careful, so you won’t need emergency care.
Wash your hands, cover your nose with the best mask you can find, and respect the infectiousness of Omicron. (good luck finding tests right now).
And finally, my caveat is that this is my experience and my opinions, which are subject to change as more information is available, and not related to the organization I work for. Thanks for reading.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/covid-hospitalizations-surge-in-king-county-push-hospitals-toward-crisis-point/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/07/nyregion/ny-hospitals-omicron-covid.html
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data.page#daily
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/hospitalizations-skyrocket-in-kids-too-young-for-covid-shots/
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/01/06/1070622880/what-we-know-about-the-symptoms-and-the-severity-of-the-omicron-variant
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19vaccine/96542
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/9-big-questions-about-omicron-explained
https://www.mdlinx.com/news/n95-masks-a-must-have-with-omicron-but-fakes-abound/39FoGQDasE8iMOALtabBZr