Contact: Ray Agnew, VP, Hospital & Community Engagement -(518} 926-5900; fragnew@glensfallshosp.org
Glens Falls Hospital, HHHN, and lrongate Family Practice Warn that This COVID Spike is Much Worse Than Any Other
The message from these doctors could not be more clear. More people are dying, more people are ill, Glens Falls Hospital is past capacity, the Emergency Department is seeing more people than ever before and they are sicker -and this is before the Holiday Season even gets under way. The regional Walk In and Urgent Care facilities are also seeing more patients than ever before.
"Let me be blunt," states Dr. Howard Fritz, Chief Medical Officer at Glens Falls Hospital. "If you are not vaccinated, get the vaccine immediately. If you are eligible for the booster, get it. Your life, your loved one's lives, and those of your friends and neighbors depend on it. This is not hype; we currently have over 50 patients admitted with COVID-19, and the vast majority are unvaccinated. This spike far outpaces what we saw last winter. And please -wear your mask and sanitize your hands."
Dr. William Borgos, Chief Medical Officer at Hudson Headwaters Health Network is in complete agreement. "We are seeing, on average, 80 new COVID-19 patients every day. Again, the vast majority are unvaccinated and those who are unvaccinated are much sicker than the cases we see in fully vaccinated patients. As a community, we need to do everything we can to cut off transmission of the virus. We urge everyone to get vaccinated, get a booster dose if you are already vaccinated, and to wear masks in any indoor public setting."
According to Dr. Robert Reeves of lrongate Family Practice, "You are 11 times -eleven times more likely to die from COVID 19 as an adult if you are not vaccinated. I simply can't put it any other way; you owe it to yourself and those you love to get vaccinated."
Glens Falls Hospital's total census -the total number of patients admitted -is higher right now than at any time during the pandemic, with the Emergency Department seeing more ambulances and more walk-in emergency cases than at any time since COVID-19 struck the North Country. Saratoga Hospital, Albany Medical Center and Columbia Memorial are experiencing the same surge of COVID positive patients adding to the non-COVID patients, filling the inpatient beds.
Says Dr. Fritz, "please, friends, let's take care of each other by getting the vaccine and getting the booster as soon as you can. With this spike happening now, we are all very worried about what is to come one or two weeks after the Thanksgiving gatherings, much less what may come in January. As Warren County Public Health appropriately warned, you should assume that any large gathering you attend will expose you to COVID-19, so always wear your mask. Remember, masks reduce your risk of becoming ill, but also your likelihood of making someone else sick if you are infected but not yet aware of the symptoms."