Spectrum Health Lakeland President Loren Hamel says the organization is taking the COVID-19 outbreak “unbelievably seriously.” He was joined Monday by other Lakeland managers for an update on coronavirus in the community. Hamel said it is not necessarily correct to compare COVID-19 to the flu, as many are doing.
“Unlike influenza, COVID-19 has no vaccine, has no specific treatment,” Hamel said. “It is a disease that produces more mortality, it is likely more transmissible, it likely will create a significant epidemic across the U.S.”
Hamel said the good news is that whereas influenza kills children, COVID-19 is unlikely to cause children to get extremely sick or die. However, he sounded the alarm about the estimates regarding how many cases the U.S. could have, saying the predicted number is between 500,000 and 9.6 million.
“If that number is accurate, we will run out of hospital beds, we will run out of ICU beds, and we will run out of ventilators and a lot of critical supplies.”
Hamel said the system is currently overrun when it comes to the ability of the government to test for COVID-19. However, that situation could get better soon locally.
“Spectrum Health Lakeland will have its own reagents, and will be able to do its own testing, likely mid next week. We also have launched drive-thru screening so folks don’t have to come into facilities. We can do that drive-thru screening, we think, by the end of today out at our Hollywood site here in St. Joseph.”
Wait for more information on that to come out soon. Hamel said Lakeland is also using chat boxes, a type of artificial intelligence, to screen people for the coronavirus, and there are free virtual screenings available. He said as of Monday morning, Berrien County still had no confirmed cases of COVID-19, but that could change at any time, and the public will be told as soon as it does. Hamel also stressed the importance of everyone doing what they can to stop the spread of the disease. Know the symptoms of COVID-19, which are a gradual onset of fever, cough, shortness of breath, and fatigue. Remember to frequently wash your hands, don’t touch your face, sanitize often-touched surfaces, and stay home if you are sick. Remind others to do the same.
You can learn more about COVID-19 at Spectrum Health’s website, the CDC website, or at the state of Michigan’s website.
