Bob Atlas: How Maryland hospitals are coping with the COVID-19 surge

Every day at 10:00 in the morning, the Maryland Department of Health publishes the latest data about COVID-19 in our state. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, the state recorded more than 11,000 new cases of the virus. Between yesterday and today, we added 10,587 cases to that frightful total, which does not include results of self-tests that anyone may have administered. The 7-day average positivity rate in the state stands at 25.45%, slightly lower than yesterday, but by comparison, in the first week of November 2021, before the omicron variant raised its nasty head, the rate in MD was 2.92%. Of all the ways of calculating the severity of the pandemic, most public health officials point to the number of hospitalizations as the metric that sheds light, not just on the number of people who are seriously ill, but also the strain those patients put on the medical infrastructure. As of this morning, MD Hospitals are caring for 3,428 patients with COVID 19. Many have other conditions as well. That’s far and away the most patients hospitalized at one time since the pandemic began, and hospitals need our help.Tom guest is Bob Atlas, the president and CEO of the Maryland Hospital Association, which represents all of Maryland’s hospitals and health systems. Bob Atlas joins us on Zoom from Elkridge, Maryland.Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.