While the number of COVID-19 patients in Chattanooga hospitals nearly doubled this week, the disease is having a much smaller impact on health systems compared to the past three holiday seasons.
There were 29 COVID-19 patients in Chattanooga hospitals as of Dec. 20, up from 15 patients a week earlier, according to data from the Hamilton County Health Department.
But Dec. 20, 2022, saw 60 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, while that same day in 2021 saw 97 patients, and in 2020, it was 206.
Dr. Jay Sizemore, medical director of infection prevention at Erlanger Health, said the change of pace is a welcome relief, although he knows a lot of people in the community are suffering from various upper respiratory tract infections right now, including COVID-19, the flu and other ailments.
“Holiday indoor gatherings will definitely promote that, obviously, but the severity is just not there, and the number of people that we’re having to take care of in the hospital is not there,” Sizemore said in a phone interview. “That’s welcomed, just because there’s lots of other reasons that our population is getting hospitalized and a finite number of beds.”