Photo: Jeffrey Basinger / Newsday via Getty
LANSING, December 7, 2021 ~ Monday, Michigan broke another record, with confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations at a higher level than at any point during the pandemic.
According to Michigan Medicine, who supplies the state health department with hospitalization data, 4,404 people were hospitalized in Michigan with confirmed cases, and 40 of those were children.
This exceeds the previous pandemic record set on April 8, 2020, when 4,365 people were hospitalized during the first surge.
“It’s as bad as it has ever been at any point so far in the pandemic,” said University of Michigan Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine Dr. Bradley Uren to 760 WJR’s Paul W. Smith.
December 8, 2021 ~ University of Michigan Emergency Room Physician Dr. Brad Uren tells Paul W. the state is seeing a fourth COVID-19 surge and hospitals are swamped with very sick patients.
“There’s more people hospitalized across Michigan with COVID than we’ve had at any point thus far in the pandemic. But I think it’s hard for people that don’t work in healthcare to understand what that means.”
With beds filling up, some patients are waiting hours to be treated, if they can be seen at all, and often need to be seen in hallways due to lack of beds.
“If someone has been waiting for months or years for severe back pain, and they have got a surgery planned to try to alleviate that pain…those surgeries are being postponed in many cases across this state,” said Dr. Uren. “Because there will be no bed for that person to go into after those surgeries happen.”
Dr. Uren stated that the majority of the people who are hospitalized are unvaccinated individuals.
“We are seeing younger people, people who thought they were healthy, people who may not have the conditions that we often associate with severe COVID that are still getting sick. Because as COVID is spreading so widely through the community, lots of people are getting infected,” said Dr. Uren. “It’s hard to predict who is going to become severely ill.”
WJR TOP STORIES:
- Draft VIP Kick-Off Reception Honors Organizations and Individuals who Helped Make The Draft in Detroit a Reality
- See A Preview of What’s Awaiting NFL Draft Attendees
- Game On! NFL PLAY 60 Clinic Kicks Off Pre-Draft Festivities in Detroit
- From Tackle to Talent Scout: Lomas Brown Projects the NFL Draft’s Top Five Prospects
