The top surgeon at Michigan Medicine on Thursday sounded the alarm in a tweet about increasing COVID-19 infections and begged for intervention from government Gretchen Whitmer, the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Justin Dimick, chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Michigan, tweeted that the health care system is canceling surgeries due to the intake of COVID-19 patients.
Noting that bars and restaurants are still open in the state, he enlisted the help of Whitmer, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and Andy Slavitt, White House adviser, COVID-19.
“We are starting to cancel surgical cases again to accommodate fast-accelerating Covid-19 recordings. The whole condition is a high risk,” Dimick tweeted.
“Bars and restaurants are open. People are on their way. No new restrictions. We need help @MichiganHHS @GovWhitmer @CDCDirector @ aslavitt46”
Dimick’s tweet comes a day after the head of the CDC called for stronger restrictions in Michigan to delay an increase in COVID-19 infections – such as an interruption in the indoor restaurant and stricter rules around youth sports.
Michigan had the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country as of Wednesday, as well as the highest number of cases, hospitalizations and the number of intensive care patients.
“I would advocate some kind of stronger mitigation strategies, as you know, to reduce community activity, to wear masks, and we are working closely with the state to try to work on that,” said Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC. said about Michigan in a Wednesday briefing.
As of Wednesday, the state reported that 3,549 adults with the coronavirus had been admitted to the hospital, an increase of 274% from a month earlier when 950 were hospitalized.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 469.4 cases per 100,000 people in New Jersey are ahead of 322 cases per 100,000 people and New Jersey at 299 cases per 100,000 people.
The percentage of COVID-19 tests that yield positive results has been rising for six weeks and is at an average of seven days at 15.6%. On Saturday, the state reported a rate of 17.6% for tests coming Friday, the highest since April 2020.
Cases among children aged 10 to 19 have increased over the past five weeks, faster than any other age group, as outbreaks in schools and youth sports continue to increase.
Health system spokeswoman Mary Masson hospitalized 78 patients with COVID-19 in Michigan Medicine this afternoon at 1 p.m.
The health system issued a statement saying, “As in many state and metro health systems, Michigan Medicine has a record high emergency and admission volume for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 care, leading to a led to very high hospital.
“Due to the increasing occupancy and predictions for the continuing high demand for emergency care and admissions, Michigan Medicine had to make the difficult decision to reschedule a small number of scheduled surgeries late this week and next week in order to maintain safe occupancy levels,” the statement continued. .
“We are constantly monitoring the situation and will make further adjustments to ensure that the scheduling is in line with our staff and the availability of hospital rooms, and that the safety of our patients and staff always remains our top priority.”
In early March, the Whitmer government eased COVID-19 restrictions on businesses, nursing homes and other events, a move the governor described as “good news” for Michigan. The orders, which include doubling the capacity constraints at restaurants from 25% to 50% and shifting the evening clock for the indoor dining room from 22:00 to 23:00, expire on 19 April.
Instead of imposing stricter COVID rules, Whitmer told CNN on Tuesday that Michigan is capable of lifting most of the remaining COVID-19 business restrictions this summer as the state’s vaccination rate increases. But she said youth sports “might be an area where we need to do more.”
The governor’s office asked for comments on Walensky’s remarks, saying Wednesday that Michigan still has “smart” health policies in place, such as a mask mandate and capacity constraints at major events, unlike states like Texas and Florida where limits have dropped is.
“We are still very much in this pandemic, but we have learned a lot about how to protect ourselves and our loved ones,” Whitney spokesman Bobby Leddy said.
Whitmer’s office could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday.
Twitter: @kbouffardDN