How New York ICUs Have Recovered

As has been the headline news in coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) developments this last week, new hotspots have emerged in the south and west regions of the US.

This development is not associated with the fact that New York City—once the epicenter of new COVID-19 cases—has been on a steady decline in past weeks.

In intensive care units (ICUs) like that of Glen Cove Hospital, quadrupled capacity for patients is beginning to look significantly less bloated, and more manageable.

In an interview with Contagion®, Bradley Sherman, MD, Medical Director and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Glen Cove Hospital, discussed the effect COVID-19 had on their ICU patient population—significantly more infected patients, significantly fewer non-COVID patients—and when it began to revert to a more normal standing.

“Those numbers are still much lower than our typical pre-COVID scenario of ICU and total hospital capacity for non-COVID care,” he said.

With the spread beginning to burden ICUs in the west and south, Sherman also shared advice and insights for colleagues now facing COVID-19.

“I would say, for one, you make sure you adequately supply,” he said. “There’s never enough PPE, quite honestly. If you think you have enough, you’re mistaken—because as you surge, the number of PPE that you require for constantly donning and doffing in your hospital itself is very high.”

Sherman also stressed the importance of ventilator support, as well continued, weaning rehabilitation care for the most affected patients.