St. Cloud Hospital Can Still Handle Non-Covid Patients [PODCAST]

CentraCare Spokesman Dr. George Morris joined me on WJON this week.  He says St. Cloud Hospital is still not at capacity and they are still equipped to handle non-Covid-19 patients.  Morris says they have about the same amount of Covid-19 patients in St. Cloud Hospital today as they had last week.  He does say other CentraCare locations in Central Minnesota are seeing increases in Covid-19 patients like Long Prairie, Melrose, Paynesville and Monticello.  Morris says staff members are working long hours and many staff members either have tested positive for the virus or family members who have which keep them from working.  He says they continue to look for more health care workers.

Dr. Morris says there are still so many things they don't know about the virus.  He says it's hard to say who may already have anti-bodies for Covid-19 but he believes those who typically get numerous common colds each year may have additional anti-bodies.

Morris says gatherings need to be small and mask wearing needs to take place indoors in public places or when social distancing cannot be achieved.  Morris says research has shown mask wearing is saving lives despite the untick in Covid-19 cases.  Morris says Thanksgiving gatherings should be altered for safety purposes.

A vaccine is still in the works for Covid-19.  Dr. Morris says the timeline for an approved vaccine is still by the end of 2020 with distribution to happen shortly after that.  He says he can expect the side effects of a Covid-19 vaccine to be soreness around the shot area and a mild case of the virus.