I spent a lot of time speaking with nurses and docs about what a spike in new cases would mean for their hospitals. The anxiety is especially high in Wisconsin. One nurse I spoke to said her hospital is at capacity and that she's seen an influx of pediatric cases in recent weeks:
This one nurse said she's treated more than a dozen babies under 60 days as well as a slew of children with diabetes, including one 13 year old who remains intubated.
This nurse said one of the biggest issues she has to deal with is families coming into the ER convinced that COVID-19 is not real or that it doesn't impact children.
“I had a 13-year-old come in with diabetes and she had all the signs of COVID. The parents said ‘She doesn’t have it.’ Sure enough the test came back positive and they asked, ‘Oh is that bad if she has diabetes?’ There’s so little education [about COVID] here," she said.
There's also been an influx of college students with COVID returning to the ER more than a month later with severe chest pains. Scans are clear but the college students are still in pain
Misinformation about the virus is spreading in other states, including in rural communities. In Modoc County, CA, once known as the only county in the state without a COVID case, residents originally didn't wear masks because they thought they were immune.
So, long story short, states already experiencing spikes in new cases and hospitalizations are worried about what the Thanksgiving holiday may bring. And for states like Wisconsin, docs say the worst of the third wave is yet to come.
“We are not seeing any decline,” said Dr. Nasia Sadfar, the medical director of infection control at UW Health. “And we’re worried about an additional increase after the holiday. We need to reduce all non essential activities temporarily to stop the uncontrolled spread."
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