COVID-19 NUMBERS - Everyday news reports are loaded with the latest numbers regarding Covid-19 infections, hospitalizations, , presumed-recoveries and deaths. These numbers can either be illuminating or confusing depending on how they’re presented and interpreted. Social media is loaded with discussions and debates over which numbers are significant when considering the severity of outbreaks. But some numbers are better indicators than others, three numbers in particular.
"The number of positivity bsed on the amount of testing that's done, those two variables, then the number of hospitalizations," explained Dr. G.E. Ghali, Chancellor for LSU-Health/Shreveport.
While conducting more testing will result in more cases, the percentages of Covid-19 infections can reveal if the virus is spreading or not. The greater the percentage of positive cases means infections are on the rise.
"We're up to around 8.2% We we were down to about 7% about a week or two ago," Ghali said.
And more hospitalizations means more people are getting seriously ill. Since March 1st, the overall cumulative COVID-19 hospitalization rate in the United States is 107.2 per 100,000, with the highest rates in people aged 65 years and older. But hospitalizations are spiking in some states.
"We are seeing an increase in hospitalizations all across Louisiana, all across the ArkLaTex," Ghali said.
Increase in hospitalizations affect the healthcare resources available such as hospital beds, ventilators, and the doctors, nurses and therapists needed. It also means other medical care could be suspended.
"We could end up cutting back on, rationing healthcare to the extent we can't do elective surgeries," Ghali explained. "Or surgeries that are not emergencies but semi-urgent that are going to have to be put off because we have a lack of hospital beds or lack of operating rooms or lack of ventilators."
Worldwide the United States ranks high as far as the numbers of Covid-19 infections and deaths. Some states are considered hotspots for the recent surges including California, Florida, Texas, Mississippi and even Louisiana. A couple weeks ago Louisiana was number 7 in per-capita infections based on population. Today it’s number 3 and while the elderly or medically-fragile are considered most at risk, Covid-19 can still affect younger people who are testing positive in record numbers.
"I can tell you of a fairly young man who was an Army Ranger who got Covid(19)," Ghali explained. "(He) had no underlying medical conditions, spent 42 days on a ventilator. Heart stopped two times during his course of admission. He ended up making it."
Louisiana has adequate hospital capacity for the time being, parts of Texas and Mississippi have reached their limits. Health officials hope people are paying attention and doing what they can to reduce the spread of Covid-19 through social distancing, frequent hand washing and wearing protective face masks.
