The flu and COVID season has been a tough one for Marylanders. State leaders say about 4,000 residents have been hospitalized with the flu this year, another 1,000 with RSV and hundreds more with COVID.
It’s put a strain on Maryland’s hospitals and led Gov. Wes Moore to announce Thursday the state will provide $164 million to hospitals around the state to help those facilities care for the influx in patients.
鈥淭his funding will make sure that hospitals have support to be able to cover the costs of additional staff,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淚t will make sure that hospitals have the ability to keep beds open and available.鈥�
Maryland Health Secretary Dr. Meena Seshamani said the level of respiratory illnesses remains high after a recent spike in hospitalizations.
鈥淲e are still high,鈥� Seshamani said during an event at University of Maryland Capital Region Health in Largo. 鈥淓ven when a spike starts to come down, there can be another spike, because people start to relax and say, 鈥極K, we’re through that hump鈥� and maybe hand washing, other things kind of fall back a little bit.鈥�
Nat Richardson, the president and CEO of the University of Maryland hospital in Largo, said his organization plans and budgets for increased needs at this time of year brought on by illnesses such as the flu. However, this year has been overwhelming.
鈥淲hen you think about a 30% surge in hospitals 鈥� that surge, we can’t just go in a closet and pick up a bunch of team members and say, 鈥楥ome help with the surge,鈥欌�� Richardson said. 鈥淲e’re typically reaching out to agencies 鈥� to bring in additional resources. And those are dollars that we plan for, for the most part, but not at a 30% surge.鈥�
State leaders also kept hammering home the point that vaccines of all kinds, but especially flu and COVID shots, are safe and effective. Officials have said even if the vaccines don’t stop someone from getting sick, they reduce the impact the virus will have on you.
鈥淭he confusion stops here,鈥� Seshamani said. 鈥淚t is worth it. Vaccines are one of the most powerful tools in our toolbox to keep ourselves healthy. They continue to be the most effective way to protect ourselves and our families against severe illness, and that includes the strains of flu that are circulating now.鈥�
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