Readers Should Vaccinate And Mask Up For Hurting Health Care Workers: Health System Ad

MILWAUKEE, WI — People are urged to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by a full page advertisement published in several large newspapers on Sunday, as a health system with facilities in Wisconsin and Illinois said its health care workers have been under strain in the pandemic.

Advocate Aurora Health called on communities to fight the virus getting vaccinated and getting boosted, getting tested and wearing a mask in public in a full page ad in Sunday's editions of the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Green Bay Press-Gazette.

The health system has nearly three times more COVID-19 patients at 26 hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin than it did eight weeks ago, Advocate Aurora said in a statement. More than 90 percent of coronavirus inpatients are unvaccinated or due for a booster.

The strain on health care workers is "undeniable," and the health system said that doctors, nurses and others caring for communities have been hurting.

"And it's up to all of us to help," the health system said, "Because if we don't, it's going to get even harder for you and your family and friends to get help when you need it most."

There were 4,093 new coronavirus cases confirmed in Wisconsin on Thursday, as Department of Health Services data showed the seven-day average at 3,527 new cases per day.

There were 1,554 COVID-19 patients in hospital beds across Wisconsin on Friday, data from the Wisconsin Hospital Association showed. There were 96 intensive care unit beds available in the state.

The omicron variant of the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 illness has overtaken delta in the Midwest, with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showing that it makes up for 73 percent of new cases in the region.

See Also:

• Omicron Cases Explode In Wisconsin: See Latest CDC Data
• Navy Aids Wisconsin Hospital Overcrowded With COVID-19 Patients