Grady hospital CEO says doctors starting to see increase in critical care COVID-19 patients

ATLANTA — Metro hospitals are bracing for an uptick in COVID-19 cases as we also head into flu season.

The chief medical officer at Grady Memorial Hospital, Dr. Robert Jansen, said he’s concerned that they’re starting to see a slight increase in coronavirus patients in their critical care units.

When Channel 2′s Carol Sbarge talked to Jansen about three weeks ago, he said the hospital’s cases in the 20s, but since then, they decreased and then increased again.

“We had actually had a further decrease but now we’ve gone back up a little bit over the last several days. Our numbers have gone back up in the low 20s again,” Jansen said.

Jansen said he’s heard the same from some other metro hospitals. He says it’s critical that we all continue to follow COVID-19 safety measures because it’s the time of year for more indoor activities.

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Sbarge had previously talked to Jansen about the effectiveness of remdesivir for coronavirus patients. A recent World Health Organization study said the drug had little to no impact on coronavirus recovery. Jensen says needs to be further research about the drug.

“I think the jury is still out on remdesivir. My own personal thought on the use of remdesivir earlier in the infection is the time you’ll have the most benefit,” Jansen said.

He said the important thing is that doctors and researchers still have a lot of learn about the virus, and he is urging people to wear masks and practice social distancing.

“We have to take it on ourselves and just do what we got to do to protect ourselves, us, our families and our children,” Jansen said.

Jansen said while some studies show that remdesivir doesn’t seem to decrease mortality, it does seem to be beneficial in reducing the duration of the illness in less severe cases.

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Cox Media Group