No Drop in Covid-19 Cases at St. Cloud Hospital [PODCAST]

Each week on WJON I check in with CentraCare spokesman Dr. George Morris for the latest information on Covid-19 locally.  Dr. Morris says they have more than 70 positive Covid-19 cases at St. Cloud Hospital with around 20 people in the ICU/critical care unit. Those numbers are up slightly from the week before when Morris reported around 50 positive cases and 20 in the ICU/critical care unit.  Morris says the cases are coming from community spread in both small and large gatherings which include youth sports, schools, family gatherings and various other get togethers.  Morris says 63 percent of their hospitalized patients are under 65.  Listen to my 2-part conversation with Dr. Morris below.

Dr. Morris says CentraCare continues to vaccinate people as soon as supplies of the vaccines arrive. He says he urges anyone 16 or above interested in a vaccine to contact CentraCare by using their My Chart online option or call 320-200-3200 to schedule an appointment.

CentraCare and St. Cloud Hospital has resumed administering the 1-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine after the pause was put in place due to some blood clot issues with some vaccine recipients.  Morris says they've had requests for the Johnson and Johnson 1 shot option.

Dr. Morris says he says herd immunity could still be reached by this summer sometime but because of some reluctance to get the vaccine the timeline has likely been pushed back from early June to late June or early July.

Morris says the staff at St. Cloud Hospital continues to be overworked often with Covid-19 patients and he thanks them for the work they've done for the community for the past year-plus.

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