MANCHESTER, N.H. – On Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Representative Chris Pappas joined with local and national health experts in a tour of Elliot Hospital in Manchester to get a first-hand perspective of the ongoing COVID-19 surge.
Elliot Hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kevin Desrochers said that as of Wednesday afternoon, the hospital’s intensive care unit is at 162 percent of capacity, with the majority of beds going to COVID-19 patients. And while the number has been fluctuating by the hour, on Wednesday afternoon he said that the hospital had 55 COVID-19 patients overall, with over 90 percent of those patients unvaccinated. He added that Elliot is not unique, as hospitals across New Hampshire and New England are also struggling under the burden of new COVID-19 patients, with this winter’s surge surpassing the one seen last year.
Desrochers urged the general public to get COVID-19 vaccinations above all, also urging wearing masks while indoors in public or around crowds and washing hands. He also urged people in the general public to remember to the struggles faced by his colleagues and those losing their lives.
“There is a lot of suffering with this disease, and that’s from the patients, their families, their friends and our staff here as they strain and stretch our resources thinner,” he said. “There’s a toll that’s taken on physicians, caregivers and nurses here at the hospital. There’s a feeling of disconnect and fatigue in the community when it comes to COVID. While we might be ready to move on from COVID, COVID is not ready to move on from us.”
Pappas echoed Desrochers statements, praising staff at the Elliot and members of the National Disaster Medical Assistance Team for their work helping those impacted by COVID. He also said that while New Hampshire currently leads the nation in COVID-19 infections per capita, that could change if everyone got vaccinated.
“I know we’re going to get to the end of this at some point in time, but it’s very clear that the end isn’t going come on its own,” he said. “We all have a role to play in order to lower the curb to slow the spread and to get to the point where we’re not seeing the numbers we’re seeing right now, personal responsibility is so crucial.”
Pappas urged anyone with questions about vaccines to ask questions to their doctors or other medical professionals, or obtain more information from Elliot Hospital.
More information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services on COVID-19 in New Hampshire on Wednesday can be found here.