Covid-19 Surge Continues at St. Cloud Hospital [PODCAST]

CentraCare spokesman Dr. George Morris joined me on WJON this week.  He says they have seen a surge followed by another surge of Covid-19 patients at St. Cloud Hospital in the past few weeks.  He says calling it a surge isn't meant to scare people but to accurately portray the situation they are dealing with.  He says hospitalizations are up overall at St. Cloud Hospital and have surpassed their highest levels they saw back in May.  He says their number of ICU patients is also up and approaching their highest levels. Dr. Morris says CentraCare hospitals have now all been affected by the increase of Covid-19 cases not just in St. Cloud at St. Cloud Hospital.

Dr. Morris was asked if people have died of Covid-19 at St. Cloud Hospital and he said yes but out of respect to the families of those who have died he wouldn't divulge exact numbers.  In our conversation he detailed how cause of death is determined when someone passes and Covid-19 is involved.  Please listen to the above podcast.

Dr. Morris says Halloween should still happen this year but offered some suggestions that include limiting contact by leaving candy outside the home, masking when presenting candy, and going trick or treating with just people in your household.

A Covid-19 vaccine is still expected to be approved by the end of this year according to Morris.  He says they are having talks at CentraCare about how distribution would take place and the priorities of who would be the first to have access to the vaccine.  He says wide distribution of the vaccine would likely take 6 to 18 months.

Dr. Morris joins me on WJON weekly from 8:10-8:50 a.m.