Hunter
08/27/20
With coronavirus cases reaching a one-day high this week, the head of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics says that if the trend continues, there may be “grave consequences.”
Suresh Gunasekaran spoke to the Cedar Rapids Gazette on Wednesday, and said the increase in reported cases, coupled with a surge in patients at the UIHC flu-like-symptoms clinic, are assumed to be related to the thousands of students and employees returning to campus to start the fall semester at the University of Iowa.
Statistics from the UIHC show the clinic visits have been averaging in the 200s and 300s early in the month, but jumped into the 400’s Sunday and Monday and into the 500s on Tuesday.
The Gazette says where the hospital had been reporting positivity rates of symptomatic patients tested at the UIHC in the 10- to 15-percent range, the rate has more than quadrupled in recent days, reaching 48 percent Sunday, 32 percent Monday and 38 percent Tuesday.
Gunasekaran says that most of those hospitalized for COVID 19 are in their 50s or 60s, but recent positive tests have been among those between 18 and 25 years old.
He also warns that if the trend continues, the UIHC will be challenged to keep up with supplies for those who must be hospitalized with coronavirus. Gunasekaran also says that if a surge of patients takes up hospital beds, the facility would have to put off patients that need services.
