Doctors running Des Moines’ intensive care units say they're witnessing the consequences of many Iowans’ lax attitudes toward the coronavirus.
“We’re seeing people suffering that don’t need to suffer; people dying that don’t need to die. This didn’t need to happen,” said Dr. Jason Mohr, who is the lead physician for UnityPoint Health's intensive care units at Iowa Methodist Medical Center and Iowa Lutheran Hospital.
The intensive care units have been refilling over the past few weeks as the virus surges again.
During the first coronavirus spike, in spring, most severely ill patients were elderly or worked in jobs that put them at particular exposure to the virus. Many adults in their 30s or 40s, with no known risk factors, are now being brought to the intensive care units because they're stricken with COVID-19, said Mohr and his counterpart at Des Moines' MercyOne Medical Center, Dr. Brad Wilcox.
Mohr and Wilcox are among 20 critical-care specialists who signed an open letter pleading with the public to take the pandemic seriously. Organizers said the signatures represent nearly every full-time doctor at intensive care units operated by UnityPoint Health, MercyOne, Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines and Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames.
The letter notes that Iowa coronavirus infections and hospitalizations dropped in June after businesses and residents followed significant social-distancing requirements during the spring. But the danger spiked again after the state reopened most businesses and people resumed many normal activities. Polk County's jump in cases has been particularly steep.
More at: https://www.press-citizen.com/story...-units-take-coronavirus-seriously/5556170002/
“We’re seeing people suffering that don’t need to suffer; people dying that don’t need to die. This didn’t need to happen,” said Dr. Jason Mohr, who is the lead physician for UnityPoint Health's intensive care units at Iowa Methodist Medical Center and Iowa Lutheran Hospital.
The intensive care units have been refilling over the past few weeks as the virus surges again.
During the first coronavirus spike, in spring, most severely ill patients were elderly or worked in jobs that put them at particular exposure to the virus. Many adults in their 30s or 40s, with no known risk factors, are now being brought to the intensive care units because they're stricken with COVID-19, said Mohr and his counterpart at Des Moines' MercyOne Medical Center, Dr. Brad Wilcox.
Mohr and Wilcox are among 20 critical-care specialists who signed an open letter pleading with the public to take the pandemic seriously. Organizers said the signatures represent nearly every full-time doctor at intensive care units operated by UnityPoint Health, MercyOne, Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines and Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames.
The letter notes that Iowa coronavirus infections and hospitalizations dropped in June after businesses and residents followed significant social-distancing requirements during the spring. But the danger spiked again after the state reopened most businesses and people resumed many normal activities. Polk County's jump in cases has been particularly steep.
More at: https://www.press-citizen.com/story...-units-take-coronavirus-seriously/5556170002/
