Salem Township Hospital is reporting a busy January for respiratory diseases.
Chief Nursing Officer Lisa Ambuehl says through Tuesday of this week, there had already been 31 COVID cases and 81 ‘A’ flu cases being confirmed by the hospital and its medical offices. In addition, there were three ‘B’ or less severe flu cases.
The COVID cases included six patients coming to the emergency room and two being admitted. The flu cases included three that resulted in admission.
Ambuehl says so far this winter season COVID numbers are down from last year, with 100 total being recorded. Normally the flu doesn’t peak until February.
Meanwhile, at SSM Health St. Mary’s in Centralia and Good Samaritan Hospital in Mt. Vernon, they report seeing relatively moderate to low inpatient respiratory cases.
COVID‑19 hospitalizations stayed low January 12 through the 16th, averaging 2-3 inpatient admissions during this time frame. Mid-month the hospitals saw a slight spike with 4-6 inpatient admissions. The highest spike has been this week, with eight inpatient admissions which has since decreased to 3.
Influenza hospitalizations for January were very low, averaging 0-3 inpatient admissions. This number spiked mid-month with 8-10 admissions between Jan 19- Jan 21. This week, those numbers have decreased substantially with 4-6 admissions between Jan 26 – Jan 29.
