Georgia 'This Is A Tsunami:' Health Care Workers, Angry Over Rising COVID-19 Cases, Want Mask Mandate

https://www.gpb.org/news/2020/07/28/tsunami-health-care-workers-angry-over-rising-covid-19-cases-want-mask-mandate?fbclid=IwAR0J3ClkxEYLGnMbUzVbmLEuyLxVH_syqsuauHW5ZJbIQt2ayntMovqLcTo

July 28, 2020
By: Ellen Eldridge

As parents and teachers across Georgia ready for a return to school as early as Friday, coronavirus cases continue to surge, raising concerns among health care workers that the worst is yet to come.

"If March-April was a wave, this is a tsunami," Dr. Carlos del Rio tweeted over the weekend. "This could have been prevented."

Del Rio is one of the state's top infectious disease doctors and the executive associate dean for Emory at Grady.

The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized inside Emory Healthcare, the state's largest health system, jumped nearly fivefold since early June, and the strain is affecting doctors, nurses and staff who work around the clock tending to sick patients.

The state saw 2,890 new cases reported Monday, July 27, with 30.4% from non-rural counties outside the Atlanta metro area. Of the 11 deaths reported Monday, eight people were from rural areas, according to data from the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Hospitals around the state are filling up fast, with several, including Emory Johns Creek Hospital, on total diversion.

Looking at critical care beds, Regions A, E, H, L — encompassing 45 different Georgia counties — have a total of 15 critical care beds, according to GEMA.

Athens, the home of the University of Georgia, falls into Region E and has zero critical care beds.

"We are tired, we are frustrated and we are mad," del Rio said in his tweet.

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"We need more aggressive tactics, not less: universal mask-wearing, pooled PCR testing & sero-based interventions," Georgia Tech biology Professor Joshua Weitz said on Twitter.

He tweeted about a familiar and disturbing sequence of events: a rise of cases, then hospitalizations, then fatalities, and lingering impacts for many who recover.

Some of those lingering effects include extreme fatigue and breathing problems, and have been seen in at least one 9-year-old Georgia girl, Kira Johnson.

“She struggled with inflammation and her eyes kept getting bloodshot,” Jeannie Johnson, Kira's mother, said. “She had headaches and stomachaches and was super fatigued and she had a fever every day for over 80 days.”

Health care workers like del Rio say the solution is relatively simple: "Wear a mask, save a life." They have begun using the hashtag of #WearAMask.