Thread by @joingles

Ohio Dept of Health news conference. Thursday, Jan, 13, 2022. ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff is joined by the following participants.

Vanderhoff says daily case counts remain historically high. He says community spread is rampant. He says the statewide average is 2,000 cases per 100,000 people, much higher than the 100 per 100,000 average.

"No one is untouchable," Vanderhoff says. He warns Ohioans not to underestimate this variant because some will get seriously ill from it.

Vanderhoff says the cases of COVID in hospitals are largely UNvaccinated people. He says hospitals throughout Ohio are swamped right now.

The Cleveland Clinic will be receiving a team of 20 medical professionals from a partnership with the federal govt.

Vanderhoff says rapid testing kits are being diverted to K-12 schools, colleges, universities instead of libraries and local health departments until the inventory and supply is stabilized. He suggests Ohioans purchase kits or go to clinics/mass testing sites.

Ohio National Guard will continue to help with mass testing sites around the state.

Maj Gen John Harris of Ohio National Guard says about 2000 members are working at Ohio's testing sites and hospitals throughout Ohio.

Harris says ONG has teams that can be transferred around the state in various areas as needed.

Harris says the ONG doing swabbing and testing, traffic control, administrative duties, and security functions. He says they will be "lifting and shifting" to meet the demands.

Dr. Dan Bachman, OSU Medical Center, says ONG is swabbing patients, directing traffic, and more to allow OSU's Columbus drive-through site to test 1000 people a day. He says it is a "morale boost" for the staff and people they are interacting with.

Dr. Bachman says most of the COVID patients requiring hospitalization there are UNvaccinated. He says the crush of COVID patients is straining hospitals. He says more than 100 people are waiting to be hospitalized in his county and there are only 10 beds available right now.

Bachman says vaccination is the key to staying healthy. He says it lowers the chance of serious effects and hospitalization if you catch COVID. He says people should call their primary doctor if they are unsure of what they should do if they think they have COVID.

Dr. Jennifer Wall Forrester at U of Cincinnati Health says they are seeing higher pediatric hospital admissions than in the past. She also says patients in hospitals are largely UNvaccinated or vaccinated but have underlying health conditions.

Dr. Forrester says many staff members are off work right now with COVID. She says the hospital is short-staffed. She says the ONG members are very helpful at hospitals and with testing.

Dr. Forrester also stresses people should get vaccinated and boosted, wear a mask, stay home if they are sick, and wash their hands. Basic stuff.

Vanderhoff says COVID is extraordinarily unpredictable. He says Omicron is not "just a little cold" for everyone. He notes more than 30,000 Ohioans have died from COVID.

Dr. Vanderhoff says Ohioans who can donate blood should do so. To give details on how to give blood, he suggests visiting Givingblood.org . . .

Dr. Vanderhoff says if you have cold-like symptoms, you should automatically treat the situation like you have COVID. He says the virus is often asymptomatic.

Q-Are the 20 federal med workers being sent to Cleveland Clinic enough? Vanderhoff says the state has already been augmenting the state's hospitals with ONG members. Credits health care workers for "working tirelessly" through this crisis.

Q- Doctors have explained antigen tests that will be used in schools don’t often show Omicron immediately. In fact, a recent study shows it can take up to 3 days for the rapid tests to show COVID. continued....

And according to the Ohio Dept of Education’s website on January 6th, less than ½ of the state’s school districts require all of their students to wear masks in school. Question continued....

Wouldn’t the better choice be to provide high-quality masks to all of Ohio’s schools so unmasked kids won’t be spreading the virus and keep the antigen tests available to the larger community where people can test over time?

Vanderhoff says ODH has highly recommended masks in schools. He says the testing provides a "layered approach."

Q-unavailability of home test kits for the community - Vanderhoff says Ohio has already handed out more than 5 million last year. He recommends purchasing those kits now or going to mass testing sites - more than 60,000 tests are being administered at those daily throughout Ohio.

Dr Forrester suggest people touch base with their primary care providers to get help with testing.

Q - Do you expect other places in Ohio to receive federal military help for medical needs? Vanderhoff says those federal workers are in addition to Ohio Natl Guard members that were deployed. He says the fed govt will decide any future additional members being deployed in Ohio.

Q-Should there be a mask mandate in crowded spaces like Bengals playoff game? Dr. Forrester says everyone should mask at that game but she points out there has been a backlash against mask mandates in the past. She urges leaders in communities to wear masks to set the example.

Dr. Bachman adds influenza is also spreading rapidly in Ohio and notes a mask will protect against that as well.

Q-Do hospitals expect a shortage of PPE because of people wanting better masks? Vanderhoff says hospitals have taken care of PPE and have adequate supplies of masks.

Vanderhoff says Ohio is continually looking at hospital/community needs to decide where to locate Ohio National Guard members to be the most effective. He says it is a "very substantial response."

Recap:

20 federal medical workers will be helping out at Cleveland Clinic

ONG members are being moved around based on needs

ODH says schools should require masks but antigen tests will provide a "layered" approach to help keep kids in schools.