The number of patients with COVID-19 at Columbus Regional Hospital has remained high this past week after seeing a record number of hospitalizations on Nov. 22.
On Friday morning, there were 42 people hospitalized with COVID-19 at CRH, unchanged from Thursday and down from a record 54 people on Nov. 22, the hospital said.
However, hospital officials have said in the past that those figures could increase over the course of the day as more patients get admitted and pending test results come back.
For instance, there were 40 people hospitalized with COVID-19 at CRH on Tuesday morning, but that number later rose to 48.
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Nine of the patients hospitalized at CRH on Friday morning were listed in critical condition, the hospital said.
Currently, 36 CRH staff are quarantining due to testing positive for COVID-19 or having symptoms consistent with the coronavirus.
Hospital occupancy at CRH is still “consistently running high” and stood at 80% capacity on Friday morning, said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue.
CRH calculates its capacity based on a combination of available beds and staff.
The high volume of COVID-19 patients at CRH comes as hospitalizations surge across the country.
On Thursday, U.S. hospitalizations topped 90,000 for the first time, according to the COVID-19 Tracking Project. In Indiana, there were 3,287 people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections on Thursday, up from 1,759 on Nov. 1, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
Public health experts worry that COVID-19 cases will once again spike in the weeks following Thanksgiving, which could push many health care providers past their tipping points.
Health officials are urging people to follow public health measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, including wearing masks, avoiding crowded places and keeping 6 feet of distance from individuals they don’t live with.
“We have experienced larger surges after holidays since the pandemic started,” said Brian Niedbalski, Bartholomew County health officer, last week. “If we see a large surge after Thanksgiving, our healthcare system will be overwhelmed, as we are currently almost at a breaking point.”
