Mississippi must delay surgeries as COVID-19 surge puts strain on hospitals, Dobbs says
Mississippi’s “Thanksgiving surge” in coronavirus cases continued Friday as the state reported 2,327 new cases.
Before December, that number would have shattered the single-day record of 1,775, on July 30. Now, it’s only the state’s fourth-largest one-day increase.
Early Friday morning, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted that 9.8% of COVID-19 patients end up in the hospital, foreshadowing a difficult few weeks for Mississippi hospitals.
“Beginning next Tues elective surgeries that require hospitalization must be delayed - statewide,” he tweeted.
As of Wednesday, the state had also set new records for hospitalizations and patients in an ICU. There were 1,166 COVID-19 patients hospitalized statewide and 301 in an ICU.
While Coast hospitals are under less strain than those in the Jackson area, and their ICUs largely still have beds available, they are caring for many COVID-19 patients. Dobbs has also emphasized the effects of staffing shortages, as exhausted nurses and doctors care for an influx of patients in need of critical care, and some nurses have left the state for better pay elsewhere in the country.
Of 91 ICU beds spread across Singing River’s three hospitals, and Merit in Biloxi and Memorial in Gulfport, 23 were occupied by COVID-19 patients, and 18 were available as of Wednesday, according to state-released figures.
Memorial was treating the largest number of COVID-19 patients, with seven, followed by Singing River Ocean Springs with six.
The state also reported 41 new deaths, including two in Jackson County. Additionally, one COVID-19 death in Harrison County was identified from death certificate reports between Nov. 25 and Dec. 3.
There were 262 new cases on the Coast, bringing the seven-day average for the southern six counties to 263, a slight decline from 266 the day before, but still higher than any other day previously.
Total COVID-19 cases in South Mississippi by county:
George — 1,455 (4 new)
Hancock — 1,454 (9 new)
Harrison — 8,433 (101 new)
Jackson — 7,274 (78 new)
Pearl River — 1,924 (53 new)
Stone — 942 (17 new)
This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 10:07 AM.
