COVID ‘critical:’ Infected Kentucky patients fill hospital beds, ICUs more than ever
In Kentucky, there are more people with COVID-19 hospitalized, filling intensive care unit beds, and relying on ventilators to breathe than at any time during the pandemic, Gov. Andy Beshear said on Monday.
“It appears that we are moving from alarming to a critical stage, and the future next couple weeks to couple months look like they’re going to be very, very rough,” the governor said at a news update. “Our hospital systems are reaching capacity while patient needs continue to rise exponentially.”
There are 1,893 people in a hospital with coronavirus across the commonwealth (an increase of 113 people since Friday), and of those, 529 are in an ICU (up 42 people), and 301 people are breathing with a ventilator (up 46 from Friday).
Beshear also confirmed 2,596 new cases of coronavirus across the state — the highest single-day increase on a Monday at any time during the pandemic, he said. The statewide positivity rate is at a record 12.87 percent, and 17 more people have died, 7 of whom were under the age of 60.
As hospitals brim with coronavirus patients, the threat of overwhelming the state’s network of health care systems is increasingly an inevitability, rather than a possibility, Beshear said in a grim warning.
“It’s looking more and more like that’s going to happen,” he said, adding that hospitals are “bursting at the seams.”
In a preemptive call for federal aid to prepare for this likelihood, Beshear said he submitted a resource request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday “for additional health care professionals to help where we need them most, [because] we know health care workers are tired, overworked and under great stress.”
If that request is granted, Kentucky will receive eight teams comprised of eight registered nurses and two certified nursing assistants who will travel to hospitals around the state experiencing staffing and resource shortages. The request would also include two certified Emergency Management Services “strike teams” to transport patients if they need care and the hospital where they seek it is full or under-resourced.
A fleet of National Guard teams will also set up central command centers to supplement care. Teams of 75 people will be deployed for two weeks starting on Sept. 1 at hospitals, including at Pikeville Medical Center, the Medical Center at Bowling Green, Baptist Health Corbin and St. Claire Healthcare in Morehead.
Help cannot come soon enough to many hospitals. Dr. William Melahn, chief medical officer at St. Claire, spoke alongside Beshear on Monday, announcing that his hospital has nearly doubled its number of coronavirus patients in the last seven days from 17 to 32 and is experiencing a “very critical nursing staff shortage,” while “we currently have more critical patients than beds.”
Beyond requesting federal aid, Beshear’s executive powers in an emergency have been curbed. Over the weekend, the Kentucky Supreme Court dealt Beshear a momentous blow by ruling that a lower court abused its discretion by blocking Republican-backed laws from taking effect. The laws limited the governor’s power to enact emergency orders to stem the spread of the virus.
The 34-page order effectively gives the Republican-majority legislature and Attorney General Daniel Cameron greater control over whether to allow the governor to re-institute, for instance, a statewide mask mandate — a step Beshear has said he’s actively considering as the virus rages across the commonwealth and hospitals fill to capacity with coronavirus patients. It also means any emergency order will expire in 30 days without permission to reauthorize by lawmakers and/or Cameron — parties that have consistently challenged the statewide measures taken by Beshear to try and slow spread of the virus.
Beshear earlier this month used his executive power to mandate universal masking in all child care, pre-Kindergarten and K-12 settings. Following the weekend ruling, Beshear on Monday rescinded that emergency order and is now setting his sights on a statewide mask mandate, which he would have to do with permission from the General Assembly.
“I believe we are reaching the point where a statewide mask mandate is going to be necessary because we need the hospital beds,” he said, though he hasn’t yet explicitly asked lawmakers to consider taking such a step.
“While I have said publicly and to individuals that I think it may be necessary, I have not made a specific ask there,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, the Food and Drug Administration granted final approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine — a step that could bolster public confidence in vaccinations among skeptics as the Delta variant rips through Kentucky and the country. The two-dose vaccine was first given emergency use authorization by the FDA in December.
“The public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product,” acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said.
Beshear implored hesitant Kentuckians who’ve been awaiting final FDA approval before they get their dose to sign up now.
“Anybody who is out there saying, ‘I want to see a little more study, I want to see full approval,’ it just happened,” he said. “What this means is that the FDA has again confirmed with significant additional data that the vaccine is safe and effective.”
This story was originally published August 23, 2021 at 5:24 PM.
