Mayo Clinic, a world-class hospital based in the United States, has cautioned Americans on the need to be more serious about protecting themselves from contracting COVID-19. The hospital which is based in Minnesota is worried about the strain put on its system by the recent sharp increase in coronavirus cases.
The dean of the hospital, Dr. Amy Williams, who gave the warning on Tuesday, said Mayo Clinic is at the moment faced with staffing concerns. She stressed that the hospital’s capacity to treat coronavirus patients strongly depended on the number of healthcare workers available, besides bed spaces and medical supplies.
Williams warned that if the surge in new cases continued, the hospital might not be able to care for coronavirus patients. She added that over one thousand health workers in the hospital were currently unavailable for work because they are down with the coronavirus or have been exposed to it. She, therefore, urged people to take preventive guidelines more seriously to avoid being infected.
“The most critical worry we have right now caring for patients is staffing, we have an increase in staff absences,” Dr. Williams stated. “If you go to a small gathering, you have to be masked you have to be social distancing it is incredibly important.”
She also observed that communities catered for by Mayo Clinic are experiencing between twenty and thirty percent increase in COVID-19 positive cases. While commending the state governor for the new guidelines to prevent a further rise, she urged people to do all they can to follow them.
As of Sunday night, Mayo Clinic had about two hundred coronavirus patients in their care. The situation has forced the hospital to begin delays of elective surgeries again, just as it did when the coronavirus first hit Minnesota.
A joint statement issued by regional VP Richard Helmers, regional administration chairman Jason Craig, and chief nursing officer Pam White stated that “The public urgently needs to treat COVID-19 as the health emergency it is to prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed. We are pleading for everyone’s help to wear a mask and follow all public health guidelines to limit the spread of this disease.”
On a positive note, Williams said that doctors are now better informed on how to care for coronavirus patients. She also noted that southern countries now have reduced flu cases, a situation she hopes can be replicated in the United States. She, therefore, pleaded with residents to help the hospitals by helping themselves.
Source: cbslocal.com
