Hospitals Nearing Capacity Statewide As PA COVID Surge Continues

PENNSYLVANIA — Hospitals are approaching capacity around Pennsylvania amid the latest COVID-19 surge, with officials pointing to the unvaccinated population as the primary driver of severe illnesses that are leading to clogged emergency rooms and declining availability of beds. Additionally, the number of "breakthrough" cases amid fully vaccinated individuals has also slightly increased, something which health officials are closely monitoring as an indication of the presence and strength of variants of concern.

The total number of individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 increased by 5.4 percent over the past week, according to the Department of Health. The number of average daily hospitalizations now sits at 4,251. The hospitalization rate thus far in December is the highest mark the state has seen since the first of week of February.

Additionally, available adult ICU beds fell to 14 percent, and available pediatric ICU beds fell to 10.3 percent. Some of the state's largest hospital systems like Geisinger are already overbooked: they say they're operating at 110 percent capacity and that patients have been waiting for up to 10 to 20 hours in its emergency rooms. Emergency room doctors said that, in many cases, they are practicing "waiting room medicine" to address the overload.

Officials continue to urge vaccinations as the best way to ease pressure on hospital capacity and prevent severe illness.

“COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective for preventing hospitalizations and deaths, even as more post-vaccination cases occur in the context of more transmissible variants and more residents getting vaccinated,” Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam, who announced her pending resignation on Monday, said in a statement Tuesday.

The case rate is similarly up, rising from 37,230 cases last week to 41,144 this week. The positivity rate, however, actually decreased, from 15.2 percent to 14.4 percent.

But the increase in hospitalizations has also come with an increase in deaths due to COVID-19. There were 658 deaths over the past week, with 42 percent of them coming in individuals under the age of 70. That weekly rate is also the highest the state has seen since mid-February.

The state's vaccination for adults now stands at 70.5 percent, according to CDC data.

This article originally appeared on the Across Pennsylvania Patch