Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center is seeing more patients with COVID-19 as hospitalizations fueled by the virus have doubled in recent days in Mississippi.
Dr. Kevin Richardson, the hospital’s chief medical officer, said most of the cases caused by the omicron variant appear to be less severe, but that may not be the case for everyone who contracts it.
“Even though most of these cases have been mild to moderate, it is important to remember that many of our community members have underlying health issues that place them at increased risk for complications from coronavirus infection,” he said.
Richardson said last week that the hospital doesn’t have any of the new anti-viral medications such as Paxlovid on hand.
The omicron variant of the virus has been resistant to monoclonal antibodies, which had been the go-to treatment for COVID-19.
Paxlovid has shown some promise as a treatment, Richardson said, “but as nationwide supplies are limited, we do not expect to have access to it any time soon.”
Richardson said emergency room wait times have gotten longer as more people continue to flood the ER with respiratory problems.
He urged people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and booster shots if they haven’t already.
“Although infection is possible in those that have received the COVID-19 vaccine, vaccination plus a booster shot continues to be the most effective strategy to reduce severe disease and death,” Richardson said. “Of our past 10 hospitalized patients that have died from COVID-19 infection, nine were unvaccinated.”
Mississippi reported 17,525 new cases from Thursday through Sunday. The state had 514 patients confirmed to have the virus in the hospital and another 72 possibly infected patients as of Dec. 29, the last date for which information on statewide hospitalizations is available. Of those, 123 were in an ICU and 57 were on ventilators.
