OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Hospital capacity is at a high across Nebraska. Doctors say vaccines have made a positive impact on the pandemic but there are still many unvaccinated.
Many covid patients in the ICU are unvaccinated and doctors say the patients are younger than those in the ICU at the start of the pandemic.
"So many of us have had the mistaken belief you have to have comorbidities to put you at risk to get seriously ill. I can't stress enough we are seeing people in their 20 and 30s who are healthy people with no medical problem who were out on a golf course or running marathons perfectly healthy who are now critically ill," said Cary Ward, chief medical officer with CHI Health.
Because of the care covid requires, hospitals still aren't able to get back to things like elective surgeries despite the governor lifting the decree.
"This puts an immense strain on the system so we want to be available to the community for when they need us. When they have a traffic accident, when unfortunately those things happen, when you get a cancer diagnosis, when you have a stroke or heart attack, we want to be able to provide the care that the community demands," said Dr. Mark Rupp, chief of the division of infectious diseases at UNMC.
Doctors say information on hospitalizations and deaths is a more accurate representation of the state of the pandemic, not positive tests. Some doctors say the state needs continuous information that's reflective of the situation.
Additionally, doctors suspect we will get another increase in cases and worry about the strain it'll put on the system.
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