Sentara Healthcare said a 300% increase in hospitalizations in Northern Virginia in 10 days as of Thursday is being driven by the omicron variant 鈥� and the health care system鈥檚 top doctor is appealing to people to get vaccinated, wear masks in public and adhere to good pandemic practices.
鈥淲e are seeing unprecedented levels of admissions from COVID, or with COVID, than we have ever seen before,鈥� said Dr. Jordan Asher, chief physician executive at Sentara Healthcare. 鈥淭his is effectively our fourth peak, and it is our highest peak. And it is a peak that is continuing to increase every day at greater rates than we have seen before.鈥�
Asher has a message for people who believe their risk of getting COVID is low or who may be misled hearing about advances in various treatments: 鈥淥nly one of the three monoclonal antibodies that are out on the market right now work for omicron,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd on top of that, there’s an incredibly short, limited supply of those.鈥�
New oral medications, only appropriate for use in some cases, also are in limited supply.
鈥淪o please don’t think that, ‘It’s OK if I get COVID because there are medications that will prevent me from getting very sick, ending up in the emergency room or the hospital.鈥� Right now, I would not be thinking that way,鈥� Asher said.
Soaring COVID-19 numbers are impacting the availability of hospital staff, even though the vast majority has been vaccinated.
When asked how critical staffing levels are, Asher said the system is monitoring conditions 鈥渙n a per-minute basis.鈥�
He said that Santeria is a large system that has the ability to move people around to provide help where needed and that supplies of personal protective equipment, or PPE, are plentiful.
鈥淭oday, we are able to take care of all the patients that we have,鈥� Asher said, declining to make any predictions.
He did, however, project a sense of urgency, asking everyone to do their part by getting vaccinated and wearing masks in public.
鈥淧lease, even though you might not be as worried about yourself, worry about your loved ones, worry about your colleagues, worry about your neighbors, and if you don’t feel well, stay home鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause yes, you might not be the one that gets sick and needs our care in the hospital, but someone else will.鈥�
