Diggiss: COVID Situation Could Get Worse

As the country continues to see record COVID-19 infections, Doctors Hospital CEO Dr. Charles Diggiss is warning things could get worse in the coming weeks.

He revealed a significant number of employees are out of the system due to COVID infection.

Around 120 Doctors Hospital employees are out of the system due to Covid-19, according to CEO Dr. Charles Diggiss, who said the hospital has seen a disturbing increase in Covid patients. He warned the Covid situation could get worse.

According to data from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, around 50% of the population is fully vaccinated. More than 2,500 Covid-19 cases were recorded since December 27th. Covid hospitalizations have also significantly increased. As of Tuesday, 71 cases were in hospital – with nine of them at Doctors Hospital. Dr. Diggiss reiterated that hospitalized cases are predominately unvaccinated individuals.

Rapid antigen testing data from Doctor’s Hospital revealed that December 2021 and January 2022 already exceed the test positivity rates for previous months. The test positivity rate initially peaked at 1.38 percent in September and then decreased to 0.54 percent in October and 0.33 percent in November. It surged to 4.47 percent last month and has already approached 15 percent so far this month.

Last month, the prime minister said this may be the worst wave yet. As a result, Doctors Hospital took steps to prepare.

But the facility is still faced with the problem of the availability of respiratory therapists and critical care nurses.