CentraCare: Delta Variant Reaching Peak, Plateauing in St. Cloud area

(KNSI) – Officials think the region’s cases are starting to plateau after more than a month of hospitals and critical care units in Central Minnesota consistently full with COVID patients. CentraCare Health COVID 19 Incident Commander Dr. George Morris says based on what he’s seen, lately, there’s a glimmer of hope.

“So far, all of these surges, they have gotten to a peak and they stay there for a little while, and then they come down. And we could be seeing that starting to come down over the next two to four weeks. We’re going to begin to see the numbers plateau. And that’s good to see. It’s just going to take a while to get back to if you want to call it normal or that next level of controlled spread.”

The test positivity rate has dropped in the region from 14.5% to 12% in the last week. Morris says it will take three months for the test positivity rate to drop below 5% percent or no longer be considered widespread.

Dr. Morris says we need to reach herd immunity and the safest and fastest way to do that is to get a covid vaccine.

“If we get to 90%, community immunity or herd immunity, that’s where even if the virus comes in, it means that just catches a few people, the small pockets, and that’s where I really think we can get to as a community. We’re not going to make COVID totally disappear.”

He says the resistance to getting vaccinated is why the Delta variant has been able to stress the system and it’s up to people living in Central Minnesota to do their part to get vaccinated.

“Personal rights come with personal responsibilities. And that’s what we’re asking people to do. Because within our community, we’re struggling to meet the healthcare needs of our region, because we don’t have the beds and we don’t have the staff to care for people in those beds, including our emergency rooms and our long-term care settings.”

The CentraCare Health Care system is taking care of 89 COVID patients, with more than 60 of them at St. Cloud Hospital. Officials say 25% of those patients are in the ICU. Only three hospitalized patients are vaccinated.

CentraCare officials say the current surge in cases started in late July and is being driven by the delta variant infecting mostly unvaccinated people. By mid-September, hospitals throughout the state began to delay care and run out of space and staff to treat COVID patients.

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