YORK, Pa. — York County is second in the state when it comes to current COVID-19 hospitalizations. Currently, the county is recording 93 patients are hospitalized for the virus. Philadelphia is leading the state with 117 COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Thirty-seven of the 93 hospitalizations are at WellSpan York Hospital. Ryan Coyle, a spokesman for the hospital released this statement in regards to the hospitalizations:
We have seen an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations over the past two weeks at most of our facilities (including WellSpan York Hospital) but we continue to be adequately equipped to respond to the needs of our patients at this time in terms of beds, supplies, and PPE. As a large, integrated health system with eight hospitals and some 200 care locations, we take a coordinated approach to ensuring all of our hospitals and care teams have what they need. WellSpan has developed plans to be able to expand COVID-19 units and bed counts at each of our hospitals if the need were to arise. The health system also has the flexibility to transfer patients among its eight hospitals across southcentral Pennsylvania. To date, we have not transferred COVID-19 patients between facilities due to any space constraints.
It is unclear if all 93 hospitalizations of the virus are from patients from York County or if they were transferred there by other hospitals in nearby counties. The PA Dept. of Health says, most hospitalizations are in people over the age of 65.
The increase in hospitalizations comes as the state reports its highest daily COVID-19 cases since April, with more than 1,300 cases.
"It is something we're concerned about," said Gov. Tom Wolf.
Gov. Wolf says, his administration monitors COVID-19 cases 24/7. While it is concerning, he says, the state has a much greater capacity to handle the virus than it did in the spring.
"Back in March and April, we had real concerns on if we had enough ventilators, protective equipment, ICU beds, whether the hospitals could cope with the increase," said Gov. Wolf. "We're now in a very different situation. We have lots of PPE. I think every category has a higher amount of inventory that what was used during the pandemic."
More information on your counties COVID-19 hospitalizations can be found on the Dept. of Health's COVID-19 dashboard.