Baxter Regional Medical Center has announced that 90.2% of its COVID-19 inpatients since March 1 have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus.As of Friday afternoon, the hospital has 28 COVID patients and crossed the 30-patient threshold earlier this week. Baxter Regional’s all-time high for COVID patients was 34 on Nov. 11, 2020.The number of COVID-19 cases in the Twin Lakes Area has spiked in past month, with the number of active cases roughly doubling every 10-14 days. The Arkansas Department of Health reports that Baxter County currently has 341 active COVID-19 cases. The county had 185 recognized cases 11 days earlier on July 6. Back on June 9, there were 10 active cases in the county.
Baxter Regional infection prevention specialist Stephanie Free talks about what the hospital is seeing with this latest surge in COVID cases.
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Health officials have said the spike in cases, which is also being seen across southwest Missouri, is due to a lack of people being vaccinated against COVID-19 and the arrival fast-spreading delta variant first reported in India.
Free talks about the capabilities of the delta variant.
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BRMC does screen patients for the delta variant, but those samples must be sent off for testing and the results currently take several weeks to arrive. Because of that, the hospital has not had an official, confirmed case of the delta variant.
Free says hospital officials believe the delta variant is here, even if it hasn’t been confirmed by a lab just yet.
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Some of the common symptoms of the delta variant are congestion, headache, sore throat and possibly fever, things that could be shrugged off as common allergies. Free says people should get tested for COVID-19 even if they think they’re just struggling with typical seasonal allergies, just to be sure.
In Baxter County, 32.8% of the population ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID, with another 5.5% partially immunized. Statewide, 39.9% of the population is fully vaccinated and another 9.3% is partially immunized.
Baxter Regional CEO Ron Peterson says getting a COVID-19 vaccine is the best thing someone can do for themselves and for the community.
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Free says that among hospitalized patients that have been vaccinated, no single version of the vaccine appears to offer more or less protection than another type.
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Baxter Regional is offering COVID vaccinations through its Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease Clinic. Area residents may call (870) 508-7450 Monday-Thursday 8-5 or Friday 8-noon to schedule an appointment. Vaccines are also available at other area health providers and through several local pharmacies.
Baxter Regional will resume its weekly COVID-19 community updates starting next week. That information can be heard live Wednesday mornings at 7 on KTLO, Classic Hits 101.7 and 99.7 The Boot or online at ktlo.com.
For more information on the vaccine and for regular updates on COVID-19, visit www.baxterregional.org/coronavirus.
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