GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — The CEO of Prevea Health has a dire warning for the spread of COVID-19 over the next few weeks.
“Really none of the trends are good trends,” Dr. Ashok Rai told WTAQ’s ‘The Morning News with Matt and Earl’ on Monday. “Every statistic is not looking good, including hospitalizations.”
Rai’s words come as COVID-19 case indicators on the State of Wisconsin’s activity dashboard show high virus activity in every single county in Wisconsin with the sole exception of the Northwood’s Price County.
It’s being driven, in part, by an increase in cases in the 18-24 age group, and there are a couple of reasons why.
“It’s much more than just going back to school, it’s not-so-great behavior when they’re not in school,” said Rai. “They’re congregating at homes or in bars.”
Younger patients have an easier time, generally speaking, dealing with COVID-19 infection. They typically present with a much more mild form of the disease, but Rai says some of those younger coronavirus patients are spreading the virus to older, and more vulnerable, populations.
That’s coming at a bad time. Rai says hospitals are bracing for flu season, which is expected to complicate the response to COVID-19 and strain hospital resources.
“That’s what we’ve been worried about since day one,” Rai explained. “Dealing with two viruses that could put you in the hospital, and if you get both at the same time, that could be pretty critical.”
It’s theoretically possible, Rai says, to come down with both the flu and COVID-19 at the same time, although experts aren’t sure how common such a thing could be. Health officials across the state are urging people to get flu shots.
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