Hospitals Feeling The Pressure As Coronavirus Cases Surge Surrounding Holiday Gatherings

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Just when we think we can't be shocked anymore, the COVID-19 numbers come in and we are blown away again.

Topping 600 cases again in Allegheny County on Saturday was a real eye opener -- and hospitals are feeling the pressure.

Dr. Brian Lamb is an Internal Medicine Specialist at Allegheny Health Network.

"What we're seeing right now across the state is that we are starting to reach, you know, a critical capacity unit, we are starting to see hospitals are starting to scramble. We didn't see these numbers even back in March in April. And these aren't even with the recent surge that we're expecting for people gathering at Thanksgiving. So these are numbers that were coming up from two to three weeks ago, where we're starting to see the numbers come up and we're starting to see people get sick, and we're starting to see our health system really start to strain at this point," Dr. Lamb said.

Dr. Lamb is concerned about what happens when the 'Thanksgiving Spread" victims hit the hospitals.

"These people, you know, have a week or so before they actually develop symptoms. And so anyone who was infected two weeks ago, and then had Thanksgiving, it was in small groups, we may see the numbers skyrocket even more after everyone got together. You know, we could find ourselves in a very difficult situation where we could be you know having to really look at who do we prioritize. When we help take care of. We want to take care of everyone but the resources are limited."

The timing could not be worse with Christmas only 26 days away and there is so much shopping to do, not to mention holiday parties.

"All of that really needs to be put on hold right now," Dr Lamb says, "because it really comes down to as an individual, trying to socially distance yourself, working from home if you can. And if you can't, anytime you're out, wearing your mask, washing your hands. Those are still the most important things that you can do to protect yourself, and God forbid spreading it to someone else."

Dr. Lamb says the virus is finally becoming very real to many more people because with the numbers we are seeing now just about everyone knows someone who has been impacted.