Doctors fear health care collapse amid omicron surge

[Hydrogen]

Many hospitals across the country are in crisis as cases surge and staffing is at critical lows.

Hospitals nationwide are once again buckling under the strain of COVID-19 cases as the ultratransmissible omicron wave crashes into health care systems that are already critically short-staffed and exhausted from previous waves of the pandemic.

The current situation is forcing states and hospitals to declare emergencies, deploy the National Guard, delay or cancel elective procedures, institute crisis standards of care, and allow health providers to stay at work even if they themselves are positive for COVID-19 because there is no one available to take their place. Together, the situation has some doctors openly worrying that the omicron wave will cause some systems to collapse in the coming weeks.

"The comforting news that this variant generally causes milder disease overlooks the unfolding tragedy happening on the front lines," Craig Spencer, an emergency medicine physician and director of global health in emergency medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, wrote in a New York Times opinion piece Monday.

Spencer noted that, unlike this time last year, there are effective COVID-19 treatment plans, therapeutics, and vaccines. "Yet these tools are still not enough to slow the rapid influx of patients we’re now seeing from omicron, and the situation is bleak for health workers and hospitals."

Numbers and projections

Currently, the seven-day average of daily COVID-19 cases is nearing 700,000—an all-time high in the pandemic. Meanwhile, daily hospitalizations are averaging over 132,000, up 83 percent in the course of two weeks. The number of hospitalizations is quickly nearing the all-time record of around 137,000 hospitalizations per day in the pandemic, which was set in mid-January last year.

According to data reported by the Department of Health and Human Services, 77 percent of hospital beds in the country are occupied and 78 percent of beds in intensive care units are full. But the department's data can have lags, reflecting hospital usages that may be one to two weeks behind. For instance, physicians and researchers tracking hospital capacity suggest Maryland's hospitals may now be hitting capacity, based on a projection of lagging HHS hospital data that suggests hospital beds are only 79 percent full.

In his online bulletin, Inside Medicine, Harvard emergency physician Jeremy Faust on Monday quoted a Maryland physician colleague as backing up the projection, saying:

I can attest the situation in Maryland is [expletive] horrendous. The state has been maxed out for about 2 weeks. Multiple hospitals are operating under crisis standard of care. EMS [i.e. ambulances] is now so taxed that Baltimore county started transporting people in fire trucks last week. This is absolutely unheard of and absurd. Reports of people waiting over 1-2 hours on scene with fire fighters before an EMS unit gets there. Then when they get to the hospital they wait literally hours for a bed. Transfer centers now just laugh when you call the system is so back logged. It’s mind boggling to me how none of this has been national news.

Strained systems

Though a smaller proportion of people infected with omicron appears to develop severe COVID-19, there's still a crush of patients, and some of them are suffering the worst of the disease. Last Friday, for instance, a hospital in Kansas ran out of ventilators amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, spurring the county board to issue a local emergency bulletin. In addition, omicron is reaching vulnerable populations that end up needing hospital care after omicron exacerbates a previous condition, such as diabetes. Meanwhile, seasonal flu and other conditions bringing people to hospitals are also at high levels.

The surge of patients is coming at a time when overstretched hospitals are already critically understaffed and providers are facing extreme burnout.

On Monday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam issued a limited 30-day state of emergency to try to ease the strain on overburdened hospitals after the state saw record numbers of hospitalizations last week. The order allows hospitals to increase their bed capacity and increase staffing through a number of technical changes, such as adding flexibility for active out-of-state providers to practice in the state and expanding the ability of physician assistants to provide care.

"Health care workers and hospitals are exhausted, and they are again facing increasing numbers of patients, affecting their ability to provide care," Gov. Northam said in a statement. "These steps will help ease the strain, giving medical professionals more flexibility to care for people. Ultimately, the best thing everyone can do for our hospitals and their staff is to get vaccinated."

Easing the strain

Neighboring Maryland issued a similar 30-day state of emergency last week to buttress the state's health care facilities amid record-high COVID-19 hospitalizations.

"The truth is that the next four to six weeks will be the most challenging of the entire pandemic," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement last week. "All of the emergency actions we are taking today are to keep our hospitals from overflowing, to keep our kids in school, and to keep Maryland open for business, and we will continue to take whatever actions are necessary in the very difficult days and weeks ahead."

Gov. Hogan's order mobilized 1,000 members of the Maryland National Guard to assist state and local health officials. At least 10 states have called up National Guard members, spanning Oregon to New York, to help respond to the tidal wave of omicron cases and hospitalizations. For instance, Massachusetts deployed National Guard members in late December to hospitals deluged by COVID-19 patients. One of those facilities is UMass Memorial Medical Center, the main hospital in central Massachusetts, which is currently operating at 115 percent, according to a January 9 report by CNN.

"It's just the perfect storm for a nightmare here in the emergency department," Dr. Eric Dickson, CEO of the hospital and an emergency physician, told the outlet.

The staffing crisis also has led some hospitals, such as some in Rhode Island and Arizona, to allow medical providers to stay at work, even if they themselves are infected with COVID-19.



https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/01/hospitals-nationwide-are-buckling-under-omicron-as-cases-continue-to-spike/

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A greater quantity of COVID driven healthcare demand coupled with higher strain on existing healthcare. Could result in scarcity which will inevitably drive healthcare prices even higher. If the united states thought healthcare was expensive pre COVID crisis. I can't imagine how much worse conditions could potentially deteriorate post COVID crisis.

While certainly the worst case scenario is bad enough. It could also trigger a resurgence of home remedies and snake oil medical treatments. Due to people not being able to afford medical care. Faith healers, alternative health movements and holistic remedies could all make a strong resurgence.

Cryptocurrencies, I think could be developed to improve healthcare in the united states and worldwide. There are many obvious steps to improve healthcare. People taking steps to exercise more and be healthier would go a long way towards making healthcare more affordable for all. As would people refraining from drug and substance abuse. These are not necessarily issues for government to solve. But has more to do with choices made on an individual level.

High numbers of americans drive across the border to mexico every year to receive healthcare treatments at greatly discounted prices. That is probably the best option many have to receive affordable heatlhcare. But surely we can do better than that?

[romero121]

A greater quantity of COVID driven healthcare demand coupled with higher strain on existing healthcare. Could result in scarcity which will inevitably drive healthcare prices even higher. If the united states thought healthcare was expensive pre COVID crisis. I can't imagine how much worse conditions could potentially deteriorate post COVID crisis.

Government should consider this, beyond that it isn't possible to keep things under control. More than 85% of the people hold a medical insurance, so unlike the price they receive the treatment. Now the government need to focus on the remaining 15% who seems to homeless and unaffordable. If the government plan well, it can be solved.

While certainly the worst case scenario is bad enough. It could also trigger a resurgence of home remedies and snake oil medical treatments. Due to people not being able to afford medical care. Faith healers, alternative health movements and holistic remedies could all make a strong resurgence.

Even now people are much into home remedies than reaching a hospital for the treatment. This is not because people aren't able to afford, this is just returning back to the old days of traditional healing. I'm not sure of what is the scenario in US. In my country people are getting used to it and not to faith healers.

Cryptocurrencies, I think could be developed to improve healthcare in the united states and worldwide. There are many obvious steps to improve healthcare. People taking steps to exercise more and be healthier would go a long way towards making healthcare more affordable for all. As would people refraining from drug and substance abuse. These are not necessarily issues for government to solve. But has more to do with choices made on an individual level.

Right now cryptocurrencies can't do anything to improve the healthcare network. Because, everything needs to be done in a much secure way than anything traditional. Maybe if governments weren't interested in doing it, corporate networks could collaborate and find a solution.

High numbers of americans drive across the border to mexico every year to receive healthcare treatments at greatly discounted prices. That is probably the best option many have to receive affordable heatlhcare. But surely we can do better than that?

This is happening with almost every country. For now it is Americans driving to Mexico. Over the Asian continent, it is India where people travel for healthcare.

[Rruchi man]

 People taking steps to exercise more and be healthier would go a long way towards making healthcare more affordable for all. As would people refraining from drug and substance abuse. These are not necessarily issues for government to solve. But has more to do with choices made on an individual level.

I certainly agree, in a period like this where the strength of your immune system matters alot, it would be wise for one to strive towards achieving better health. As a booster to your immune system, you should try to exercise more, eat more vegetables, drink more water, enjoy the fresh air, get some sunlight, eat fruits, reduce on the junk, take more vitamins, and have more rest.

[Poker Player]

Maybe the numbers will eventually prove me right, but I'm not worried about the new Omicron variant. The natural tendency in previous epidemics was to evolve to less deadly variants, and in some cases to disappear. In those times, no vaccines, no masks, nothing. I'm talking from the flu epidemics of ancient Greece, through the Black Death to the present day.

The fear of collapse is not from now, it is from the beginning of the epidemic. In fact, some hospitals collapsed, as in Italy. I don't know what will happen in the US but at least where I live Omicron does not seem to be a big threat.

  People taking steps to exercise more and be healthier would go a long way towards making healthcare more affordable for all. As would people refraining from drug and substance abuse. These are not necessarily issues for government to solve. But has more to do with choices made on an individual level.

I certainly agree, in a period like this where the strength of your immune system matters alot, it would be wise for one to strive towards achieving better health. As a booster to your immune system, you should try to exercise more, eat more vegetables, drink more water, enjoy the fresh air, get some sunlight, eat fruits, reduce on the junk, take more vitamins, and have more rest.

Yes, but that was a problem that existed before COVID. It is not specific to this.

[Leviathan.007]

The covid crisis made many markets collapse and made many people lose their jobs recently we hear much news from some countries where they are opening the businesses and finishing the lockdown, but this new virus omicron can make everything worse once again because we did face the economic crisis because of the covid and food price were increasing also the inflation rate in the world, this situation was even harder for poor people because they couldn't get a good healthcare service usually because of the financial problems in their country and now that's completely normal to see the doctors fear about omicron because the world is still facing with covid and not ready for this new crisis which can make everything worse.

[Gozie51]

 People taking steps to exercise more and be healthier would go a long way towards making healthcare more affordable for all. As would people refraining from drug and substance abuse. These are not necessarily issues for government to solve. But has more to do with choices made on an individual level.

I certainly agree, in a period like this where the strength of your immune system matters alot, it would be wise for one to strive towards achieving better health. As a booster to your immune system, you should try to exercise more, eat more vegetables, drink more water, enjoy the fresh air, get some sunlight, eat fruits, reduce on the junk, take more vitamins, and have more rest.

These factors don't have anything to do with covid-19 or omicron variant of it if you expose yourself to it. Immune system is not just what it takes not to be affected, even with immune system some people are not strong enough to with stand certain challenges from birth. It is better to abstain from making contacts when not necessary or with an effected person or partner. The reason that immune system is not a strong point for me than abstaining is that even health workers despite their immune system and vaccination still wearing all the protective equipment to keep themselves safe.

[batang_bitcoin]

Well, even the countries that has the best medical system can't avoid the surge of covid-19. These new covid straints are really infectious and despite having the vaccine and the booster shots, no one is going to escape the contraction of it.
That's what we can do right, protect ourselves and have a stronger immune system. Eating healthy foods and having at least some days for exercise to strengthen our bodies.

[fiulpro]

This is something that is inevitable, considering how fast the virus is mutating, the mutations are something that's also combining themselves with other diseases like influenza etc. What's needed is : *immediate increase in healthcare professionals* but unfortunately we have to understand that it's impossible since the right way would be to increase the seats in the medical school. Where some countries are graduating the people from medical school early but not all countries would be doing that. Therefore I think the viable option would be providing education + at the same time asking the final year students to help out in the hospitals as well. It's hard but countries have to help each other out and balance everything.

[Ozero]

I do not think that we should be afraid of the collapse of healthcare due to the emergence of a new strain of coronavirus Omicron. It is predicted that by the end of this year, the coronavirus and its varieties will no longer bother people as much as they do now. Partly because the pandemic will subside, and partly because the media will not pay such close attention to it and constantly cover the statistics of cases and deaths.
In addition, the main danger of any virus manifests itself in the first years; in almost three years of fighting covid-19, a certain practice has been developed and many vaccines against this virus have been developed. So everything will be fine.

[el kaka22]

One of the biggest problems with covid when it first started out was the fact that there were not enough room to take care of every patient. Sometimes even when you are at the best care possible, you will die and those numbers were low and people reacted as if that's fine, like "oh the death numbers are pretty low, we shouldn't even be wearing masks!!!!" and other moronic stuff.

It is not about just getting covid, it is about the hospital bed count being lower than the covid sick count. In that case we as community had to let some people literally die because of lack of enough hospital beds, this literally happened. Just because it is not happening right now, doesn't change the fact that some people died because they couldn't find hospital beds at one point. If that happens again, we are going to have a lot of death all over again and that is not alright.

[uneng]

The new omicron wave is responsible for the collapse in healthcare system as expected, due to its high contagious levels. But the good news is that mortality rates are lower than the previous strains, so I hope healthcare systems worldwide are going to stabilize again once people get infected and recover themselves, just like we have seen after the last peak of the pandemic.

For now we can follow the sanitary protocols, strength our immune systems with all the necessary nutrients acquired through the food and liquids we consume, daily exercises, contact with sunlinght and also avoiding any kind of negativity in our lives that may attack our immunity. It's also a good idea to store medications at home, because in some areas drugstores and hospitals are already lacking it.

Covid tests are also scarce right now!

[adaseb]

I don’t think it will collapse if it hasn’t collapsed already in the past when we weren’t prepared. Sure the cases are up but if you look at the death rate they are not rising at the same levels.

Seems the vaccines are working and people are getting a mild cold. Also numbers are higher now mostly due to Christmas gatherings and it’s winter and people usually get more sick in the winter.

[lovesmayfamilis]

In my country, people are scared of the new strain, and instead of not spreading panic, they are instead escalating the situation. Having survived the early strains of COVID-19, everyone runs at the slightest sign of a cold to medical institutions, thereby creating a burden on doctors. But not everyone comes there with Covid, but because of the large accumulation, they also acquire this virus for themselves.
I do not see any problem with this virus, since there are many ways to treat it today. In addition to the fact that vaccines have been invented, so if people themselves are more consistent in their decisions, I think there should not be any collapse.

[ultrloa]

In my country, people are scared of the new strain, and instead of not spreading panic, they are instead escalating the situation. Having survived the early strains of COVID-19, everyone runs at the slightest sign of a cold to medical institutions, thereby creating a burden on doctors. But not everyone comes there with Covid, but because of the large accumulation, they also acquire this virus for themselves.
I do not see any problem with this virus, since there are many ways to treat it today. In addition to the fact that vaccines have been invented, so if people themselves are more consistent in their decisions, I think there should not be any collapse.

We can also add that health professional already deal with the worse so there's totally no need to get panic on certain situation and its just government need to take action and put some heavy implementation towards the movement of the people so that the new strain will be controlled and it will not create any further damage like what happen on early stage of this covid-19 virus.

[AicecreaME]

The sudden increase of those people who are contacting the new covid-19 variant which is omicron is really alarming. The rate of people who suddenly exhibit the symptoms of omicron is rapidly rising in most parts of the world. Here in our country, we really haven't fully recovered yet and we are still in the process of regaining our freedom because of the restrictions, yet we are now in once again in the series of lockdowns and safety implementations. It is really depressing right now to think that there are many people that would be affected again especially now that the rules imposed are not really after the welfare of the majority. Right now, here in our country, the policies that are being implemented are not in favor of the poor. The public transportations only cater the vaccinated people and there is a rule which is "no vaccine, no ride". I don't know if in other countries this is also the policy, but it really violates the human rights.

I know we have to secure ourselves and take into consideration also the other people's welfare. But this should be into consideration of the human rights as well. We just really have different perspectives and we have various reasons as to why we opt to be vaccinated or not. As long as they are doing the safety protocol which is maintaining the physical distancing and wearing of face masks, they should be allowed to use the public transportation. Because after all, not everyone has the privileged to have private vehicles.

Regarding the fear of health workers, it is really valid because the rise of those who are being sick with omicron is really fast happening. Most of the hospitals are now short staffed because some staffs already contacted the virus and they have no other choice but to prioritize themselves first. The facilities are slowly becoming full with covid-19 patients alongside with the normal patients which means they could hardly accommodate more people who try to be confined. There were even some incident reports that some hospitals now have to make a tent and temporary shelter so that they could still cater those people who badly need help. Vaccines are of great help to minimize the various spreading, but it does not guarantee full immunity from the virus. Hence, the explanation of why some vaccinated people still contact covid-19, but not as severe as those who are unvaccinated.

I just hope that the health care workers would get the support they needed from the government. In that way, they could still push through and get their job done despite the pressure. Because as we all know, some health workers are underpaid despite their work being hazardous. I hope in every area of the world, the health workers would get the recognition they deserve. The recognition I'm talking about is not focused on praises and applause, but on the things the health workers deserve which are proper compensation, good and complete facilities, and of course, the rest that their body needs.

[laredo7mm]

A greater quantity of COVID driven healthcare demand coupled with higher strain on existing healthcare. Could result in scarcity which will inevitably drive healthcare prices even higher. If the united states thought healthcare was expensive pre COVID crisis. I can't imagine how much worse conditions could potentially deteriorate post COVID crisis.

While certainly the worst case scenario is bad enough. It could also trigger a resurgence of home remedies and snake oil medical treatments. Due to people not being able to afford medical care. Faith healers, alternative health movements and holistic remedies could all make a strong resurgence.

Cryptocurrencies, I think could be developed to improve healthcare in the united states and worldwide. There are many obvious steps to improve healthcare. People taking steps to exercise more and be healthier would go a long way towards making healthcare more affordable for all. As would people refraining from drug and substance abuse. These are not necessarily issues for government to solve. But has more to do with choices made on an individual level.

High numbers of americans drive across the border to mexico every year to receive healthcare treatments at greatly discounted prices. That is probably the best option many have to receive affordable heatlhcare. But surely we can do better than that?

Do Americans use these home remedies and snake oil remedies?  There is no law on these uses in the country?  I used to think that this only happens in developing countries.

How do you associate cryptocurrency with healthcare?  I think it is possible to improve the health care system through the use of blockchain technology.  Blockchain technology can be used to easily exchange information on medical reports and supplies of essential medicines and other supplies.  Education and health care are very expensive in America.  It is very important to solve this problem because it is a basic human need and it should be affordable for all.  Therefore, I think the problem can be solved by making the education and health sector fully government-controlled.

If in a country like America, the state of the health sector suffers as a result of the corona, then the picture of underdeveloped countries can be easily imagined.  We have seen how the health sector collapsed in a country like India and many people died due to a lack of oxygen supply.  I think if we don't develop our health sector globally, new diseases like corona will re-emerge any time.  Therefore, in developed countries, plans need to be adopted on a larger scale.

[Cling18]

 People taking steps to exercise more and be healthier would go a long way towards making healthcare more affordable for all. As would people refraining from drug and substance abuse. These are not necessarily issues for government to solve. But has more to do with choices made on an individual level.

I certainly agree, in a period like this where the strength of your immune system matters alot, it would be wise for one to strive towards achieving better health. As a booster to your immune system, you should try to exercise more, eat more vegetables, drink more water, enjoy the fresh air, get some sunlight, eat fruits, reduce on the junk, take more vitamins, and have more rest.

This is definitely true where we're responsible for our own health and body. The government has their part when it comes to solving this issue but we also have a big part in taking care of our personal health. We should boost our immune system so we could shield ourselves from different variants that exist during this pandemic. The health care unit is having a hard time dealing with the never-ending pandemic situation so we must also help them by keeping ourselves healthy.

[24Kt]

In my country, people are scared of the new strain, and instead of not spreading panic, they are instead escalating the situation. Having survived the early strains of COVID-19, everyone runs at the slightest sign of a cold to medical institutions, thereby creating a burden on doctors. But not everyone comes there with Covid, but because of the large accumulation, they also acquire this virus for themselves.
I do not see any problem with this virus, since there are many ways to treat it today. In addition to the fact that vaccines have been invented, so if people themselves are more consistent in their decisions, I think there should not be any collapse.

As it has been known now to the public, omicron seemed to have less dangerous as compared to older variants but said to be more contagious. By now, I believe that healthcare industry can better manage this situation as compared to when we were just starting the covid virus pandemic. If the symptoms are mild and not threatening, most of them are just advised to stay at home. And also, when it comes to the development of vaccine, I think, scientists will not be having difficulty of targeting this omicron variant in their developments. They already developed the covid vaccine and they will know how to adjust with this new variant or other emerging variants.

[dothebeats]

I personally don't really feel that the healthcare system would collapse on the omicron surge. They've been speaking of the same collapse since the last few surges within the last two years but healthcare services remain operational even up to now. There may be some hiccups on the medical care being provided but ultimately people are still receiving the medical attention that they need. Also, based on recent studies, Omicron is the first stage of the virus evolving into a somewhat milder yet highly contagious variant of the virus, meaning that it could ultimately be the natural vaccine that we are waiting for.

[dezoel]

Staff quitting is not really that shocking considering the working conditions. I mean politicians do not do what they need to do in order to keep the numbers lower, and here we are talking about how vital the staff are and yet they do not get paid a lot. Doctors and every single other person who works in a hospital down to the accountant should be paid more than what they are paid right now, pay them 5x if you have to. Salary is not the main cost of hospitals, the medical equipment and drugs and machines are all the main costs, salary is nothing and they could afford to offer 2x more.

However, for some reason hospitals are trying to save from the salaries and instead hire more staff just in case, which ends with most staff leaving because of hard work and little pay. These are educated and qualified workers, you can't pay them low wages in a period like this, you can't even pay them regular wages, you have to pay insanely high wages because they are facing insanely difficult situations.