The Delta variant is running rampant throughout the country. More specifically, the Ohio Hospital Association stated that 1 in 13 hospital patients is a Covid-19 patient. To go along with this alarming news, 1 in every 7 ICU patients is a Covid-19 patient. Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff representing the Ohio Hospital Association said that Ohio is seeing “troubling increases” in the rise of cases over the past month. Ohio currently has enough hospital beds to meet the needs of patients, but there are concerns because other states are overwhelmed and are looking to transfer patients across state borders so that they have a bed. This is fine for now, but Ohio would like to prepare to treat its own residents.

When asked about how the rise increases will impact the upcoming school year, Vanderhoff said the goal was to keep children K-12 in person 5 days per week. He laid out a set of precautions to make this goal attainable which included masks, social distancing, good hygiene, and vaccinations for those that are eligible.

Testing was also brought up to Vanderhoff and he stated that it is still a crucial part of stopping the spread of the virus. He advised unvaccinated people to seek testing before and after attending large events and vaccinated people should highly consider testing as well. It was also stated that there should be no difference between whether you’re vaccinated or not and if you are having symptoms, you should be tested the moment you start to experience symptoms.