CLEVELAND — COVID-19 hospitalizations are reportedly at an all-time high in Northeast Ohio.
On Wednesday, MetroHealth reported its highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic.
Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals doctors tell 3News both hospitals are seeing rise a too.
“The hospitals are getting more and more full,” Infectious Disease Physician with the Cleveland Clinic, Kristin Englund said.
“Unlike the other surges we’ve have in northeast Ohio, this one never really came back down,” Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, Claudia Hoyen said.
Sitting down with both doctors Wednesday, Hoyen and Englund told 3News hospitalizations at their health systems are even worse than a year ago.
“We are definitely seeing higher numbers right now in all of our hospitals than we even last year when we reached that peak,” Englund said.
“Not only at Rainbow are we seeing the most kids with COVID that we’ve ever seen, we are also seeing many, many adults as well,” Hoyen said.
Over 9,700 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state in the last 24 hours.
The new omicron variant was detected in Cleveland Monday, but doctors say most hospitalizations are delta cases.
“It’s delta, delta, delta,” Hoyen says.
“It’s (delta) about 96.7 percent of all the cases being reported right now,” Englund adds.
The state reports more than 6.3 million Ohioans have been vaccinated.
Hoyen and Englund say breakthrough cases are still a reality, but not at an alarming rate, and aren’t common.
“People are not necessarily breaking through the boosters unless they have a medical reason underlying,” Englund tells us.
“We have not seen people who’ve been boosted,” Hoyen adds.
Cleveland Browns head coach, Kevin Stefanski is one of the more than a dozen players and 2 coaches who announced a positive COVID-19 test this week.
Stefanksi is vaccinated with a booster shot, but has now caught the virus twice.
“Is this common?” 3News Investigative Reporter, Marisa Saenz asked.
“We’re not seeing a lot of that to be honest with you,” Hoyen said.
“He’s been exposed to COVID, obviously, from somebody, and he might not have normally have gotten tested if he had not been in such an intense protocol,” Englund said. “We may have people who are out here walking around with COVID but necessarily not showing any symptoms."
Previous Reporting:
- NFL plans changes to COVID-19 protocols, AP source says
- MetroHealth reports all-time high number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, testing positivity rate
- Cleveland Browns' breakthrough cases highlight larger community COVID concerns
- Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski tests positive for COVID-19
- Cleveland Browns place 6 more players on reserve/COVID-19 list