Mount Nittany Medical Center is treating 46 COVID-19 inpatients as of Wednesday afternoon, a new daily high that eclipses the previous mark of 41 set on Nov. 28.
The patients range in age from 43 to 95.
The ongoing increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations at the medical center is continuing to present challenges for managing both COVID-positive inpatients and all other inpatients and surgical patients, Mount Nittany Health’s chief medical officer Dr. Nirmal Joshi said.
‘While there are many measures we can take to be able to provide care for everyone who needs it at any time, it’s important to understand that there are limits to this,’ Joshi said in a statement.
A spokesperson said the hospital is not currently near capacity and does not have a specific limit on the number of COVID-19 patients it can admit. The latter is because of a variety of factors, including flexibility of available space for COVID-positive patients, varying degrees in severity of cases and frequently changing inpatient numbers.
Mount Nittany also has taken measures such as evaluating on a daily basis whether elective surgeries and non-essential procedures need to be rescheduled.
But Joshi cautioned that he expects the peak is still to come and if community spread continues hospital admissions will continue to grow.
COVID-19 admissions have continued to increase throughout the fall with eight times as many infected patients admitted in November than in September, when the medical center had 16 COVID-positive inpatients for the month. In October, there were 58 COVID admissions with an average of 11 COVID inpatients per day. Last month, the hospital admitted 143 COVID patients with an average of 22 COVID inpatients per day.
Through Dec. 4, the hospital had already admitted 18 COVID patients and had an average of 39 COVID inpatients per day.
‘It is everyone’s individual responsibility to consistently practice safety measures to help mitigate continued spread,’ Joshi said. ‘As difficult as it is – especially this time of the year – we must stay home as much as possible and socialize only with those people in our household.
‘Please, practice social distancing, wear a mask and wash your hands frequently. These measures have been proven to mitigate the spread of the virus, and everyone must do what’s right and best for the collective community.”
State College Area School District officials cited concern about community spread and additional strain on the hospital among the reasons for their decision on Wednesday to stay in remote learning until Jan. 11.
‘…[D]uring the last couple of weeks, the spread of COVID-19 in our community has continued to worsen, and the epidemiologists on our team expect conditions to further decline,’ Superintendent Bob O’Donnell wrote in a message to families. ‘When we closed two weeks ago, it was mostly due to staffing shortages from isolations and quarantines. Now, because of the significant rise in local cases, our reasons for remaining closed have shifted to include community spread and concerns about hospital capacity. The virus is now infecting our students, employees and families at its highest rate so far this year.’
Last week, Centre County’s positivity rate was 12.6%, up from 5.9% the previous seven days, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s early warning monitoring dashboard. The statewide positivity rate was 14.4%, up from 11.7%.
Of the 67 COVID-19 deaths confirmed by the Centre County Coroner’s Office, 49 have occurred since the beginning of November. COVID-19 deaths reported by the coroner range in age from 55 to 104. The health department lists 85 COVID-19 deaths for Centre County, 66 of which have been reported since Nov. 1.
Statewide, COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise. As of Wednesday morning, 5,852 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized, with 1,191 in intensive care and 675 on ventilators. About 13% of ICU beds and 12% of medical/surgical beds statewide remain available.
Of Pennsylvania’s 11,672 deaths attributed to COVID-19, 2,849 have been reported since Nov. 1.
