With hospitals full, RSV and COVID-19 cases increasing, and flu season approaching, Larimer County Health officials are asking residents to wear face coverings, postpone large indoor gatherings and get both their flu and COVID-19 vaccines.
The Larimer County Department of Health on Saturday reported that health officials are bracing for a surge in COVID-19 cases, along with those of RSV and influenza, in the coming months.
As of the most recent numbers, 86 residents were hospitalized in Larimer County for COVID-19 and intensive care units were at 105% of capacity with 40% of those ICU patients there for COVID-19. Those numbers are continuing to increase with hospitals reporting 10 to 14 new patients admitted for the coronavirus each of the past four days, according to the health department.
And since Sept. 1, 26 Larimer County residents have died from COVID-19, according to figures from the health department. Those most recent deaths range in age from a 37-year-old Loveland man to a 90-year-old Loveland woman.
The majority of those who have died and who are in the hospital with COVID-19 have not been vaccinated, the health department reports.
Hospitals are overburdened, critical care staff is in short supply across the country and “capacity cannot continue to stretch indefinitely,” according to a press release from the health department.
Last fall and winter, local hospitals saw between 82 and 121 COVID-19 patients every day, but only three hospitalizations for influenza during the entire season, compared to an average of 200 flu hospitalizations in a typical year.
Officials are worried about hospital capacity if this year were to see a surge in both COVID-19 and flu cases. Plus cases of RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) also have increased with outbreaks locally in schools and childcare facilities, the health department reports. This virus can cause severe disease in infants, small children and older adults, according to the health department.
With all of these factors, health officials are asking residents to wear masks indoors to prevent the spread of COVID-19, RSV and influenza, which are all passed by respiratory droplets; to stay home and away from others if you have a fever, cough or other respiratory symptoms; and to postpone large indoor gatherings if they include people who are not vaccinated against COVID-19.
Residents are asked, too, to get vaccinated for COVID-19 and to get a booster dose if eligible and also to get their flu shots.
And those who test positive for COVID-19, are urged to isolate and follow health provider instructions.
“Once again I am pleading with our residents to take the situation with our hospital capacity seriously,” Tom Gonzales, the county’s public health director said in a press release. “Our heroic healthcare providers have not had any relief from the pandemic for many weeks now. We are facing the potential for hospitals to become even more overwhelmed during the fall and winter. Now is the time to get your preventative shots to help minimize the impacts of these viruses.”
More information on the COVID-19 vaccine is available at larimer.org/covidvaccine or by calling 970-498-5500. The direct link to schedule an appointment is: https://larimerhealth.secure.force.com/Vaccine/.
