With Rising COVID-19 Cases, Seek Testing Outside Hospital System
(Dublin, Ohio) — With Ohio breaking records for COVID-19 hospitalizations, hospitals are asking citizens to seek testing for the virus that causes the disease outside of their doors unless necessary, as well as encouraging vaccination and booster shots.
As of Dec. 29, the Ohio Hospital Association reported 5,356 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, with one in four patients COVID-19 positive. This surpasses the previous hospitalizations record of 5,308 on Dec. 15, 2020; of today's hospitalizations, more than 1,200 patients are in the ICU, which is near the record high of 1,318 ICU patients reported Dec. 15, 2020, according to Gov. Mike DeWine's office.
In response to the surge, hospitals have taken measures such as postponing elective surgeries as they face staff shortages resulting from increased patient capacity, COVID-19 exposure and infection of healthcare workers, and burnout of employees during this difficult time.
The OhioHealth system, which includes Dublin Methodist Hospital, reminds everyone that their emergency departments are not equipped to offer COVID-19 testing to people who do not require emergency care.
If you need a COVID-19 test but do not have symptoms or a need for emergency medical care, OhioHealth recommends searching for testing locations via the coronavirus.ohio.gov interactive testing site map.
In Dublin, SV Diagnostics is offering a drive-thru testing site at 475 Metro Place South.
Since June 1, there have been 35,962 hospital admissions in Ohio, and 92.5% of those have been among people who are not fully vaccinated, according to the governor's office.
Everyone is encouraged to continue following prevention strategies to fight the spread of COVID-19, including getting a vaccine and a booster shot, if eligible, wearing face masks, washing hands frequently, getting tested for COVID-19 and staying home if sick, even with mild symptoms.
Gov. DeWine has also deployed an additional 1,250 members of the Ohio National Guard to aid hospitals statewide during this surge of COVID-19 patients.