Health Officials Know Surge Is Coming But Details On Arrival Short

Health Officials Know Surge Is Coming But Details On Arrival Short

PIERRE — Officials at Avera St. Mary’s Hospital in Pierre, like health care facilities around South Dakota, are preparing for a spike in hospitalizations due to the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Mikel Holland says pinpointing when the approaching surge will arrive is difficult…

Holland says there is some speculation that the coming increase in cases and hospitalizations may turn out to be a positive…

One way to reduce pressure on staff shortages is the use of at-home testing…

In the upcoming weeks, Avera Health is expecting a potential surge of over 300 Covid inpatients in their hospital system. That would exceed the total number of hospitalizations seen during the peak of 2020.