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One month ago, just seven COVID-19 patients were receiving care at Cone Health facilities. As of midnight on Sunday, that number had climbed to 52 and Cone Health officials say they don’t think it will stop anytime soon.
The recent rise is cases is attributed to the Delta variant of COVID-19 and data scientists at Cone Health expect hospitalization numbers to continue climbing due to the more contagious variant.
“A couple of months ago, we would expect someone with COVID-19 to infect two or three other people,” says Michael DeWitt, senior data scientist at Cone Health. “The Delta variant doubles or triples that. It is likely as contagious as the mumps and chicken pox.”
A press release from Cone Health on Monday said the hospital system is seeing the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients double every 10 to 14 days. With that in mind, hospital officials expect to see more than 100 hospitalized patients this month.
“That’s why we are really pushing vaccination among those who are eligible and everyone to mask up,” says Dr. Cynthia Snider, an infectious disease specialist at Cone Health. “We have become complacent with wearing masks; we are gathering in large groups with others who may be unvaccinated, which is risky. If you have been exposed to COVID-19, remember to test 3-5 days later and self-quarantine. It’s time to protect ourselves, or it is going to be a difficult fall.”
Cone Health is urging everyone 12 and older to get vaccinated. To find a local vaccination site, visit conehealth.com/vaccine.
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Elizabeth Pattman is the trending topics reporter for the Times-News in Burlington, covering business, COVID-19 and all things trending. Contact Elizabeth (she/her) at epattman@gannett.com. I'm also available on social media @EPattmanTN on Twitter or @burlingtontimesnews on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Cone Health sees rising hospitalizations as Delta variant of COVID-19 spreads
