There is light through the trees. Public gatherings are back, and we can be out and about and in stores without a mask. However, we are not out of the woods yet. COVID-19 is still with us.
In health care facilities, for the safety of vulnerable patients who are already ill, masks are still required by order of the Oregon Health Authority:
“All patients and visitors when visiting a health care office or facility are required to wear a face mask, face covering, or face shield unless the individual is under five (5) years of age.”
We understand this is an inconvenience for our visitors, but we ask the community to help us protect our most vulnerable patients.
In the past week, the number of COVID-positive patients in our three hospitals has tripled. Nationally, the highly-contagious delta variant is on the rise. Los Angeles County is requiring people to wear masks, and experts believe other parts of the country will follow suit.
In Oregon, the week of July 11, OHA reported an 11% increase in new daily cases (1,318). As of July 19 there were 153 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, 38 of them in intensive care.
In Jackson and Josephine counties, there were 35 people hospitalized — 23% of the state’s total. Eight of them were at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center. Seven of those 35 patients were in ICU beds. Just nine of the 57 ICU beds in the two counties were available. Intensive care patients are not all COVID-19 patients, so with hospitals at capacity, keeping COVID-19 hospitalizations down is very important.
That is why Asante encourages people to get vaccinated, practice social distancing when around people they do not know and wear a mask in health care settings. Learn more about vaccinations and how you can get vaccinated.
