FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) – Health experts, elected officials and others warn of a drastic increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in northern Colorado to the point that Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith considers it a “time of concern.” Dillon Thomas, of CBS4, has learned that several hospitals in the region have or are nearby due to COVID-19 cases.
The Delta variant of the virus is increasing throughout the United States and northern Colorado is not exempt.
In a Facebook post Saturday morning, Smith said 100% of Larimer County ICU beds were filled, citing a briefing by the Larimer County Health Director.
Here (in northern Colorado), all of our hospitals are almost ready. We have people in our emergency rooms. We have rooms in our ICU where we have two patients instead of one, ”said Marilyn Schaefer, director of respiratory therapy for the Northern Region at UCHealth.
For the first time, some of the UCHealth hospitals in the region have to duplicate patients in ICU wards.
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Schaefer said UCHealth is lending fans from outside entities to ensure it is ready for possible future demand. After the vaccines were made available to the general public, health experts hoped that pressures on local hospitals would be met. However, in recent weeks, hospitalizations have doubled more than in many hospitals.
“We all had real hope that we were on the decline of the virus and could return to normal. But as it turned out, our numbers have risen significantly. Our positivity rates have really started to tend in a direction that makes the healthcare community uncomfortable, ”Schaefer said.
Smith encouraged his followers on social media to get vaccinated in order to prevent hospitalization and spread it even further, noting that vaccines are very effective in preventing serious illness.
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“All vaccines have some risk of side effects and COVID vaccines are no different. Fortunately, the side effects of current COVID vaccines have been statistically low overall,” Smith wrote. What I see affecting this trend is vaccination.Those who have been vaccinated, although not 100% protected, are still much less likely to suffer from severe symptoms that lead to the need for critical care.If you have questioned the effectiveness of ‘these vaccines or if you don’t think the vaccine is so critical to you because you’re middle-aged or younger, now may be the time to reconsider that decision, as this variant shows much more of an impact on you than the previous variant. “