Minnesota this week has set another 2021 high for hospitalizations related to COVID. 800 as of earlier this week. Wednesday, the Minnesota Department of Health reported 31 deaths over 2,000 cases reported.
Dr. David Hilden of Hennepin Healthcare spoke with Sloane Martin on the WCCO Morning News. He says Minnesota is clearly headed in the wrong direction.
“It's both concerning and discouraging,” Hilden said. “It might not be at the peaks that it had been in previous surges, but this is not the right way to be going for what is now just about a preventable disease, at least in most of the community. We have ways to stop this transmission. And to be honest, we're just not doing that. As a community, we're not taking the measures we need to take.”
Hilden, the host of WCCO's Healthy Matters on Sunday mornings, also talked about a significant lack of resources at hospitals and that goes beyond just space in the ICU.
“Our ICU’s are seeing that,” explains Hilden. “We're seeing both COVID patients and non-COVID patients struggling to find ICU beds because they're not an infinite supply. What's even more precious is the skills of a nurse and they are not an infinite supply. We are seeing some concerning trends in Minnesota.”
So far in September, the COVID statistics have been somber. The state is reporting 228 deaths related to COVID-19 in Minnesota as compared to 154 in August and 54 in July. It’s a trend that is going in the wrong direction according to the stats.
Health officials in Minnesota are also worried about a ‘tridemic’ in younger children as we head into the colder season. With COVID, and then Influenza and RSV.
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Dr. Madeleine Gagnon from Gillette Children's Specialty Health told WCCO Radio’s Jason DeRusha Tuesday that the beginning of fall has been very busy.
“This early fall we have an unusually high number of RSV cases and a growing number of COVID cases,” Gagnon said. “We’re seeing people getting back together, we’re seeing fewer masks, kids back in school. From a long dormant season, we’ve seen it arrive early. Looking out for common cold symptoms and using supportive measures is great for parents.”
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