We have all seen the devastation that has been caused because of COVID-19. It’s really quite terrible. Hospitals everywhere have seen their space taken up with too many people. And as it turns out, there are fewer hospital beds. In both Wesley and Via Christi Hospitals, a total of 208 ICU beds are occupied. Though they aren’t turning inpatients away, there’s no telling how patient the hospitals themselves will be.

This is far from the first time that COVID has returned after a period during which it seemed to slow down. Recall last year, when Wichita restaurants opened early, closing again within just three weeks. The numbers that Wichita is currently experiencing are quite dire, however. Hopefully its major hospitals, Wesley and Via Christi, can hold up in the face of the latest wave.

Wesley and Via Christi Hospitals are Constantly Seeing Cases Rise and Space Fall

This is pretty scary, as some witnesses to the scene have attested. Dr. Garold Minns, the Sedgwick County Health Officer, had this to say: “It’s a little complicated. It’s not just base. It’s also staffing. And you can’t just put these patients in a room on a ventilator and walk away. You have to have staff that is monitoring them every minute.”

In which case, they’ll fit more incomings into spaces not meant for them. From there, fewer staff may need to work even harder. Dr. Thomas Moore, the infectious disease specialist, has mentioned that “We are drowning… The unvaccinated are overwhelming us.” He would go on to say that the staff members of hospitals he works in have only been able to sleep two hours in the last four days.

ICUs will be overwhelmed for a while. They have to cease having elective surgeries and restricting visitors as they did in the winters of the past.