As coronavirus numbers in Mississippi continue to worsen, the state’s leading medical expert is putting a halt to elective surgeries requiring hospitalization, effective this Tuesday, December 15.
On Friday morning, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs went to Twitter to announce that “Beginning next Tues(day) elective surgeries that require hospitalization must be delayed – statewide.”
9.8% of COVID cases end up in the hospital
MS ICU’s full and many hospitalizations on the way
Beginning next Tues elective surgeries that require hospitalization must be delayed – statewide pic.twitter.com/f0qVuEn2cC
— thomas dobbs (@TCBPubHealth) December 11, 2020
The announcement does not come as too much of a surprise, considering Mississippi has seen over 2,000 reported cases of COVID-19 for three days in a row now—including today’s highest single-day rise since the onset of the pandemic. On top of that, hospitalizations also sit at an all-time high as 1,166 Mississippians are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19.
In his most recent press conference, Governor Tate Reeves warned that this would be the next step taken in order to relieve overflowing hospitals.
“If we need to get more severe, eliminating elective procedures and stepping up enforcement will be the first step,” Reeves said on Wednesday.
According to Dr. Dobbs, 9.8 percent of COVID-19 cases are currently finding themselves in the hospital, while around 12 percent of those aged 65 or older will pass away if diagnosed with the virus.
