As research continues into the coronavirus omicron variant, one of the big concerns for health care providers is the potential for higher infection numbers than the wild strain or any of the variants that have followed, including the delta variant still affecting the area at this time.
Newman Regional Health CEO Bob Wright says the main concern has less to do with an infection’s severity, even though that could well be acute, and more to do with sheer patient volume.
As Wright mentioned on KVOE’s Talk of Emporia last week and as KVOE News reported recently, the recent increase in COVID cases for Lyon County is all from the ongoing delta variant as weekly caseload increases went from between 140-170 in November and early December to over 200 shortly before Christmas. Health officials are expecting another surge once the omicron variant comes to the area. Currently, Kansas is an outlier when it comes to omicron, which is now the dominant strain nationwide but has only caused 25 total cases in the state — and none in the KVOE listening area — as of Monday.
The delta-driven spike ongoing since mid-November comes with the hospital noting nearly pre-pandemic levels of patient traffic for other procedures while staff levels have been low for months, thus reducing the staff-based capacity for hospital beds. Wright also says patient transfers are becoming increasingly difficult, much like the situation from early fall, with hospitals large and small dealing with the same issues regarding patient traffic and staff limits.
