Wave of patients from COVID omicron surge hitting Stanislaus County hospitals
As the omicron variant rapidly spreads, hospital emergency departments in Stanislaus County are seeing many patients come through the doors with COVID-19 symptoms.
The local hospitals were already packed with patients needing care for regular medical conditions as the delta surge faded in late November, hospital officials said.
In the past three days, Memorial Medical Center in Modesto has dealt with an influx of people with COVID-like symptoms or seeking a test for coronavirus.
“We have been pretty inundated in the last few days,” said Dr. Kanthi Kiran, medical director of Memorial’s emergency department. “The good news is admission rates have not been as high. We have a lot more people coming in with (COVID) symptoms but the percentage of those getting admitted is lower.”
Stanislaus County had a 119 hospital admissions for COVID-19 in an update Wednesday, after dipping to 84 in late December. Sixteen of the COVID-positive patients were in intensive care units.
In reporting a three-day total of 1,440 new cases Tuesday, county health officials said this week both the omicron and delta strains are infecting county residents.
Kiran said the patients infected with COVID come in with symptoms including a runny nose, headache, cough and maybe chest pain. Some have nausea and diarrhea. The hospital has not seen many cases of seasonal flu, Kiran said.
Hospitals in California may be experiencing the same pattern reported in Europe and South Africa, which struggled with an omicron wave that’s highly contagious but causes less severe illness and death.
Local hospitals may still be vulnerable. If a variant like delta required 10 out of 50 patients to be hospitalized, the more infectious omicron strain may send 100 patients to an emergency department and the hospital will need to make room for 10 of them, Kiran said.
Kaiser Permanente said Wednesday the surge of omicron infections nationally is the steepest since the pandemic began, but hospitalizations have not increased as quickly as with previous surges.
Kaiser said the omicron variant spreading in communities is causing infections even among vaccinated people and health care workers. “Fortunately, vaccinated individuals are experiencing less severe illness and fewer hospitalizations from COVID-19 and the omicron variant,” Kaiser’s statement said, urging people to get vaccinated or get a booster shot when eligible.
The statement said Kaiser was exercising options such as hiring travel nurses, adjusting non-urgent surgeries and using telehealth technology to maintain hospital staffing levels.
With the omicron variant on the rampage, there is concern statewide about the healthcare workforce as staff members are infected or exposed to someone who has COVID symptoms.
Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s health and human services secretary, said in a teleconference Wednesday the state adjusted its guidance for healthcare facilities struggling with infections among staff.
“We know some facilities are going to be stretched,” Ghaly said. “We are going to continue to work with them facility-by-facility and region-by-region to make sure care needs are taken care of as well as possible.”
Ghaly said he did not anticipate any state-imposed business or school closures to keep the omicron wave from overrunning hospitals and the health system. The state is extending a face-covering requirement for all Californians in indoor public places that was set to expire Jan. 15. The requirement will remain in effect through Feb. 15.
During the deadly COVID-19 winter surge a year ago, hospitals in California peaked at around 53,000 admissions, including all patients. Hospitals were approaching 51,000 total admissions this week, including about 8,000 patients who are COVID-positive.
Ghaly said the state is trying sort out how many hospital patients were admitted for regular medical issues, such as heart disease or diabetes, and then tested positive for the coronavirus.
In a news release Tuesday, Stanislaus County public health asked residents to avoid visits to hospital emergency departments unless they need emergency medical care. “Please don’t visit the emergency room solely to get a COVID-19 test or for minor complaints that could be resolved through their primary care physician,” the news release said.
‘Flurona’ cases at Modesto hospital
Doctors Medical Center had two cases of patients testing positive for COVID-19 and influenza at the same time, spokeswoman Krista Deans said.
“We are seeing some seasonal flu patients, in addition to COVID-19 patients,” Deans said by email.
The first confirmed cases of “flurona”, or simultaneous infection with COVID-19 and the flu, began to surface this week in Southern California. When asked about the flurona cases Wednesday, Ghaly said state health officials are always watching for new developments in the COVID pandemic and could investigate the occurrence of dual infections in the coming days or weeks.
Ghaly said the level of immunity in the state population makes it less likely that omicron causes severe illness. “We know people who have been vaccinated or had prior infections are not getting as sick,” Ghaly said.
The state is seeing an increase in children admitted for care in pediatric hospitals. While those hospitals are seeing greater demand with the omicron surge, many of the young patients do not need intensive care or breathing assistance, Ghaly said, adding that many are kids with other underlying conditions.
Experts at University of California at San Francisco have said omicron may be four times more transmissible than the delta variant but also cited evidence that omicron causes less severe disease.
In Stanislaus County, there is no longer a wide gap in COVID infection rates for vaccinated and unvaccinated people. As of Dec. 27, the case rate for fully vaccinated residents was 20.24 per 100,000 population. It was 26.62 per 100,000 for those partially vaccinated or not vaccinated.
Medical staff said people hospitalized with serious COVID disease still tend to be unvaccinated people or immunocompromised individuals.
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 7:36 AM.
