St. Cloud Hospital Covid-19 Numbers Down Slightly [PODCAST]

CentraCare Spokseman Dr. George Morris joined me on WJON today for an update on Covid-19 at St. Cloud Hospital.  Dr. Morris indicated that they are seeing a slight decrease compared to last week of the amount of Covid-19 patients both in their hospital and in their critical care (ICU) department.  He said that the age of their hospitalized patients is trending younger with patients in their 20s, 30s and 40s and some of those have ended up on ventilators in their critical care (ICU) department.

Dr. Morris says progress continues to be made on finding a Covid-19 vaccine with voluntary trials happening in the United State now.  He says Russia moved quicker through the process skipping the trial phase.  Morris says if the CDC and World Health Organization will be watching Russia closely and if their vaccine is working and they are willing to share the United States would likely take advantage of that.  He says recent research has indicated that people who have had and recovered from other coronaviruses like SARS or MERS or the common cold may have some immunity to Covid-19 but he explains that the immunity would likely only protect people from developing more severe symptoms of Covid-19.

Dr. Morris says he is concerned about the possibility of outbreaks in our community with students returning to school this fall and says the concern is shared by Government officials and school administrators.

Dr. Morris joins me weekly on WJON.