Dr. Virginia Halachanova, MD from Paulding County Hospital had the opportunity to speak to the public in the Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine’s press conference held on Thursday, December 10th. Dr. Halachanova spoke on the importance of social distancing and staying at home as much as possible. She was also able to share a message of hope, stating: “we are very close.”
Paulding County, like much of the state and county is seeing a rapid increase in COVID positive patients. This is leading to an expediential increase in hospital admissions due to COVID related problems. Currently in Paulding County for every 100 individuals that test positive for COVID-19, approximately 10 of those individuals will require a hospital admission.
Dr. Halachanova stated: “We are very close to be able to start vaccinations. I strongly believe that this will help us to solve and improve the COVID pandemic problems, but until this happens, we need to slow the transmission of this virus. This will help to keep hospitals available for very sick patients, and help to decrease the death rate from COVID related complications.” Pfizer is the first of several companies to receive emergency use authorization from the FDA for their COVID-19 vaccine. Authorization was received on the afternoon of Thursday, December 10th.
One theme throughout the press conference was stressing the importance of staying home. Many of the providers, including Dr. Halachanova stated: “home is and should be the safest place.” Additional guidance was provided to limit face-to-face contact with others. This can be accomplished by use of drive-thru, curbside pick-up, delivery services or online shopping. It is advised that we only leave home for household essentials, medical care, work, and school.
If you feel you are experiencing respiratory or flu-like symptoms, please contact PCH Respiratory Clinic to schedule an appointment by calling 419-399-1163. The pandemic has brought about additional challenges and struggles to families, the workforce, and healthcare systems. One thing however has remained unchanged, together we can get through this!
