The number of patients hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Columbus Regional Hospital dipped slightly over the past week but generally remained higher than lows seen during late June and early July.
On Friday, there were two patients hospitalized at CRH with confirmed COVID-19 infections, but hospital officials were still awaiting test results for three additional patients who had been admitted to the hospital with symptoms consistent with the virus, hospital officials said.
This week, hospitalizations typically hovered between five and seven, after reaching double digits last week for the first time since early June, according to figures provided by the hospital.
The hospital updated last week’s figures on COVID-19 hospitalizations after receiving tests results from additional hospitalized patients, increasing the number of hospitalizations between July 19 and 24.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
The updated figures show that hospitalizations reached 10 on July 21 and 12 on July 22, the highest since May 23, when there were 13 people hospitalized.
CRH officials said they have seen a slight uptick in the average turnaround time for COVID-19 tests, with results typically being available in three to four days, compared to an average two-day turnaround time previously. Earlier in the pandemic, however, the turnaround time was much longer than four days, said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue.
Patients admitted to the hospital with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 were previously given rapid tests in some instances, with results generally coming back within 24 hours, she said.
But a nationwide shortage of certain testing supplies earlier this month impacted Abbott Laboratories, the lab that CRH was using to process the rapid tests, prompting CRH to start prioritizing the tests for patients who need urgent or emergency procedures, DeClue said.
“Basically, the supplies that go in the test kits were just on a national level hard to come by,” she said.
Hospital officials continue to express concern about the spread of the virus in the community, especially with people traveling over the summer and the potentially long lag between infection and when symptoms may start to appear.
It can take anywhere from two to 14 days after infection, or longer, for people to start experiencing symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We know the prevalence (of the virus) is still there,” DeClue said.
