CLINTON — Infectious disease experts say the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is growing at an exponential rate.  That means the growth in cases jumps at an ever-increasing rate compared to the previous recorded period.  This explains why the world is seeing so many cases come on so rapidly.

All this, while the U.S. is still dealing with the Delta variant of the virus, not entirely, but primarily among unvaccinated people.

The Chief Nursing Officer of Warner Hospital & Health Services, Shanena Morris, issued a message on the hospital’s Facebook page last week asking residents to be patient as it deals with the sudden increase in cases.

“Within the past month, our number of inpatient hospitalizations has doubled,” Morris reported.

And, transferring those patients to facilities with “higher levels of care” has become more difficult.  Morris reported a recent patient transfer took several days and was flown to a facility in Kentucky because it had the closest available bed.

Even before the first case of Omicron was reported in the U.S., most far southern Illinois counties reported they had no available intensive care beds because of the high numbers of patients reporting with COVID.

Morris said Warner Hospital was allocating its resources to provide care for patients with the greatest need first.

“The reality of the situation is that you will experience longer than usual wait times throughout the hospital and outpatient services,” Morris reported. 

Morris posted Warner still was ahead of surrounding hospitals in dealing with the additional load but asked residents to be patient with the staff as its works through stressful times.

“Many of our employees are working extra shift to ensure that we continue to meet our mission of providing our community with quality, compassionate care close to home,” she posted.

In the health department’s report for the period from Dec. 6-12, DeWitt County had 319 current active COVID cases.  That included at least 67 new cases in Clinton.

The health department continues to offer COVID vaccinations through their offices, including vaccinations for children ages 5-11, and they also are scheduling appointments for 3^rd dose booster shots.

DeWitt county has had 36 deaths from COVID, so far, with Piatt County reporting 14 deaths.  More than 800,000 Americans have died from COVID, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).