As COVID-19 Spreads, Ohio Hospital Workers 'Exhausted'

OHIO — Statewide COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to climb across Ohio, leaving many medical workers exhausted and exasperated.

"We have been at the front line of this pandemic for about a year and a half and people are just exhausted, emotionally drained, and many have chosen to leave the work force," said Dr. Hector Wong, vice chair of pediatrics for Cincinnati Children's.

One in eight patients in Ohio hospitals has COVID-19, while one in five patients in intensive care are battling the virus. Conditions are even worse in rural areas, where one in three patients in intensive care units are fighting COVID-19.

"What we are seeing right now is very troubling and very reminiscent of our winter surge, before vaccines were even available," said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health.

Vaccine hesitancy leaves many Ohioans exposed to the dangers of COVID-19, Vanderhoff noted. It also further burdens the state's hospitals, since the vast majority of virus-afflicted patients are not fully vaccinated.

After 18 months of battling COVID-19, many doctors and nurses have been on a roller coaster when it comes to public behavior. Initially, Ohioans wore masks and remained indoors, sacrificing much of their normal lives to protect others and preserve hospital beds.

Now, with a vaccine doctors call "incredible," hospital workers are increasingly overworked and forgotten as Ohioans remain unvaccinated.

"The volumes [of patients] are high. It is frustrating to see a large number of patients who are unvaccinated and are sick with COVID-19. Many I talk to, they do regret that decision [to not get vaccinated] and wish they would have gotten vaccinated instead," said Dr. Brian Taylor, from Central Ohio Primary Care.

Wong emphasized the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective and myths of their interactions with your genome are wildly overblown.

"That's not how these vaccines work," he said, a fact backed up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dual Threats

As fall approaches, Wong and Vanderhoff both warned that influenza season could create a dual surge of COVID-19 and flu patients crowding hospital beds.

Wong urged Ohioans to get both a COVID-19 vaccine and a flu vaccine. He noted that last year, hospitals avoided the crunch of flu and COVID-19 surges, but may not be so lucky in 2021 and early 2022.

He added that parents should also keep their children away from anyone who may be sick, keep their kids away from crowded places where sick people may congregate, and mask up whenever they're indoors.

Wong then dispelled two common myths related to mask wearing.

• Do masks effect oxygen levels? No, masks cannot impact your oxygen levels or cause you to retain carbon dioxide, Wong said. "There is no risk of having low oxygen or carbon dioxide retention due to masks. From a practical standpoint, surgical staff will wear masks for 10 to 12 hours at a time and we're not suffering anything," he said.
• Can people who have COVID-19 re-breathe the virus because they're wearing masks? No. "That is simply not how biology works. There is no risk of that happening," he said.