FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky is one of many states experiencing a surge of COVID-19, fueled by the delta variant.
The state has seen an increase of hospitalizations during a two-week period and officials expect things to escalate even more.
It presents a challenge to local health care systems around the state that have already been under so much stress since the start of the pandemic.
Miriam Hass, a nurse manager at Norton Brownsboro hospital, and other health professionals shared their experiences during Gov. Andy Beshear’s Tuesday briefing.
Haas has been in nursing for 13 years and recalled what she and her fellow nurses experienced at the height of the pandemic.
“Everyone saw what was coming out of NYC and the impending doom will never leave my memory. We were also thrusted into a different kind of nursing. Patients suddenly left alone to fight through sickness or to succumb to their illness alone. We went from being patient-family centered care to us as nurses, quickly filling that role – being a patient’s family while their real families were on Zoom,” she said.
Haas said when patients passed away from the virus, a nurse would be in the room holding their hand while the others would say a prayer outside of the room. It was their hope they were able to bring peace and comfort not only to the patient, but to their families in that moment.
She explained that staff members are exhausted, feeling burned out with many leaving the bedside altogether which is creating new challenges.
“To say it has been a whirlwind and taxing is an understatement. The past 18 months, they have been flooded with sicker patients and hospital volumes are continuing to rise,” Haas said. “As we have been seeing more patients with the delta variant, we have had to deal with a new problem – younger patients who become unstable more unpredictably."
The patients didn’t have any other issues, contributing to their illness. Hass noted they didn’t have anything in common other than the delta variant and most of them were unvaccinated.
“Many of our COVID patients say that if they had it to do over again, they would have received the vaccine. As a nurse, this has been the most difficult thing I have been through in my 13-year career. The things we have seen will never leave me,” Haas said.
Dr. Scottie B. Day, a physician-in-chief at UK HealthCare’s Kentucky Children’s Hospital in Lexington said the virus is much different than what many experienced the first time around.
Day noted pediatric cases represent about 14 to 17% of total cases which he says is “very concerning.”
“As many may know, an estimated 400 children have died, which may seem like a small number relative to adults, but these are children. These are the future generations. We need to keep our children safe.”
Officials said this latest surge of children being hospitalized with COVID is causing children’s hospitals to become overwhelmed. According to the CDC, an average of 225 children with COVID were admitted to hospitals across the US daily over the last week.
About 93,000 children and teens had positive cases of the virus between July 29 and Aug. 5, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Kentucky has given 2,376,891 first doses of the vaccine while the vaccine remains unavailable for 661,500 kids under 11-years-old. Officials said 34% of kids between 12 and 17-years-old have received their first dose of the vaccine.
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