At least 560 COVID-19 patients - a record - are filling Mississippi’s hospital beds. State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs says hospitals in Jackson can have fewer than 10 intensive care unit beds available. “And it’s not just the ICU beds that’s the problem, but the staffing, and that’s where we really think the pinch is going to come.” Dr. Dobbs spoke with host Steve Inskeep on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Dr. Dobbs continued “It runs tight periodically anyway just from normal demands. We have a pretty limited depth when it comes to healthcare capacity and ICU and some of the hospital resources. But when you add COVID-19 on top of that, on an already maxed out system, it really is not something that can be maintained, especially when we’re seeing more and more cases come on board.”
On other occasions, he’s said hospitals have called retired doctors and nurses out of retirement - and have lost existing staff to fatigue - during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Jackson’s mayor has ordered everyone to wear a mask whenever they leave home. Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba says the spike in infections is happening, in part, because many people have ignored voluntary recommendations to wear masks. Now, he says it’s mandatory. “We’re trying to stop from having to shut down the city. You certainly will miss opportunity and miss revenue if we shut down the city. We listen to our state health officials that have said ‘If you see an increase in the numbers that you can not hesitate because you can see the spread take hold very quickly. And so that’s what we’re trying to do," says Lumumba.
Dr. Dobbs says the only way Mississippi might avoid shutting down its economy over and over is to ensure that everyone takes this virus seriously. “We don’t anticipate that we’re gonna let up at all for probably another year. And so we gotta find something that we can live with that stops transmission or we will be in the same sort of rollercoaster cycle of close down, full open. And it’s gonna tear us up," says Dr. Dobbs.
Public health officials say the best way to slow the spread of infections is to wear face masks, stay at least six feet from other people when you’re out in public and avoid large gatherings.
