Coronavirus Update June 23

While the number of new COVID-19 cases in Lee County has risen rather sharply over the past two weeks, the number of patients with COVID-19 who are hospitalized at EAMC or EAMC-Lanier has remained very steady. Ricardo Maldonado, M.D., EAMC’s Infectious Diseases specialist, explains how that is possible. “Previously, I mentioned that when we re-open the economy, it would be ideal if the young and healthy would do it first,” states Maldonado. “That’s so that we avoid a sharp increase in hospitalizations of very sick patients that can often lead to respiratory failure and ICU usage.” Dr. Maldonado says that he believes that’s what is occurring, and that it is not altogether bad. “If some of the young and healthy individuals can have the virus and recover without passing it on to people requiring hospitalization, then that actually helps our community build immunity to it—it’s a process called herd immunity.”

However, having the young and healthy walking around with COVID-19 concerns Dr. Maldonado as well. “If they are walking around without masks and thinking they don’t have COVID-19, then it puts the vulnerable population at risk,” Dr. Maldonado says. “This is especially true in grocery stores which is a place that all age groups have to visit. The young and healthy—and really all age groups—need to understand that wearing a mask says ‘I care about protecting those at risk’ and not wearing one says just the opposite.”

Dr. Maldonado fully expects that some of the new cases being recorded right now will ultimately lead to an increase in hospitalizations. "It is just inevitable,” he says. “The more cases we see in the younger population, it will eventually spill over to the older, at-risk population. Plus, in the past couple of weeks, we are seeing healthier adults without comorbidities getting sick with COVID-19 and being admitted to EAMC, some of them quite sick. I expect most of them to respond to medical therapy, but it is very telling that they got sick enough to be hospitalized.”