Has omicron peaked in PA? COVID cases declining while state sends help to 'exhausted' hospitals

Omicron appears to have peaked in Pennsylvania as record high case counts are starting to come down, Keara Klinepeter, acting secretary of health for the commonwealth, said Monday. 

Klinepeter stressed that the number of infected and sick was still extremely high and still overwhelming medical centers.

"In the last seven days, we have seen slight drop in the number of cases," said Klinepeter, "But we are averaging 20,000 cases per day. That is an extraordinarily dangerous level of community spread. We are not out of the woods yet."

On Monday, Klinepeter joined the management at Grand View Hospital in Sellersville to discuss the first state-funded health care strike team to assist the medical center.

Four nurses and one respiratory therapist were dispatched Saturday by a state contractor to serve at Grand View for a period of two weeks. 

“We are extremely grateful for the continued efforts of health care workers on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 as the number of hospitalizations push facilities toward maximum capacity,” said Klinepeter. “Everyone in the community who needs care is affected when hospitals are forced to deal with the unprecedented capacity and workforce-related challenges exacerbated by COVID-19.”  

Earlier this month, the Wolf administration announced that state officials would work with FEMA to organize support for health care systems and long-term care facilities dealing with staff shortages and rising case numbers. 

The strike team sent to Grand View is the first state-organized team, although federal teams had been sent in December to two hospitals, Scranton Regional Hospital and WellSpan York.

Grand View interim CEO Greg Hughes called COVID "a relentless foe" that has stretched the hospital's resources and staff. 

"(Staff) weathered the storm throughout staff shortages, supply chain issues and sheer physical and emotional exhaustion that comes with doing battle every day," Hughes said. "Many despite having been vaccinated and boosted also caught the virus themselves."

Hospitals across the country have been struggling with the rising number of COVID patients amid a spike in the omicron variant. 

Hospitals in crisis:When do Pennsylvania hospitals turn to crisis standards of care? And what does that mean to patients

'This is overwhelming':Local pharmacies can't keep up as omicron rages in Bucks County

Overwhelmed hospitals in Delaware moved to a crisis standard of care two weeks ago and could begin to turn away patients. Some hospitals in Pennsylvania have "anecdotally" started moving to crisis standard of care because they're overwhelmed, Klinepeter said. 

Last week, 10 hospitals in the state said they were operating above 90% capacity. Three said they had more patients than available beds during the week.

New cases peaked on Jan. 7 when some 33,000 Pennsylvania residents tested positive for COVID on a single day, according to the state. On Friday, the state reported 18,000 new cases. 

That number fell to 8,197 new cases Sunday. Pennsylvania reported 6,249 hospitalized Monday, with an estimated 992 patients in intensive care. 

Cynthia Westphal, Grand View's chief nursing officer, said about a third of the hospital's acute medical beds were filled with COVID patients.

"We're riding the wave," she said, noting that the number of COVID-positive patients had fallen from 45 patients 10 days ago to 32 on Monday. "We're riding the surge."

Klinepeter declined to speculate on the numbers of health care workers that could be deployed in strike teams. She stressed that these would be short-term solutions as state contractors recruit health care workers from outside the state.

"We're all in this together," she said. "It's going to each one of us to get us out of it."

Contact reporter James McGinnis at jmcginnis@couriertimes.com