An exterior view of Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, Ind., pictured, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Columbus Regional Health has said it has said seen an increase in the number of people hospitalized due to respiratory viruses following the holidays.
While there are many respiratory viruses currently circulating, the three main viruses that are causing a greater chance of illnesses and hospitalization right now are COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, hospital officials said.
As of the week ending Jan. 6, there were an average of 20 people hospitalized at CRH with a respiratory virus, the hospital said. That includes an average of seven people hospitalized due to COVID-19, seven due to influenza and six because of RSV.
Overall, the average daily census at CRH has hovered between 130 to 150 patients as of late, which is trending higher than pre-pandemic levels, officials said.
“We’re kind of starting to see COVID tick down just a little bit, and RSV is really the one on the bigger rise right now,” said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue. “They’re just going back and forth competing, but in general, if we look at the trend line of respiratory viruses resulting in hospitalizations, it does continue to go up.”
The update from CRH comes as government data posted Friday covering last week shows that flu activity is high or very high in 35 states — including Indiana — and the District of Columbia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
COVID-19 hospitalization in the U.S. rose 3.2% to 35,801 from Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, according to the CDC.
Local health officials are urging people to get vaccinated against all three viruses and take other precautions.
“We support masking as a safety precaution … and hand hygiene and staying home if you are experiencing any of those upper respiratory illness symptoms,” DeClue said.
