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Michigan health officials raise alarm about rising pediatric admissions for COVID

They're asking Michiganders to be extra vigilant, layer protection if you don't have a KN95 mask, get vaccinated and get your booster.

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan's top health officials are sounding the alarm after several record-breaking reports of new COVID infections. 

They're asking Michiganders to be extra vigilant, layer protection if you don't have a KN95 mask, get vaccinated and get your booster.

Comparing the 2020 holiday surge to the 2021 holiday surge, cases were down drastically after the holidays in 2020. Cases in 2021 and 2022 are increasing due to the Omicron variant.

"This surge is not like previous surges. We expect to see many many more cases," Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Chief Medical Executive for the State of Michigan, said. 

"What we don't want to see is many many more deaths." 

She also said that omicron is the prominent strain of the virus throughout Michigan, to the tune of 90 percent in some regions of the state. 

Boosters are so important to stop the spread of the omicron variant, Dr. Bagdasarian said. 

Officials are concerned that cases could reach 200,000 new cases each week, hospitalizations could peak at 8,000 and deaths could peak around 2,000 per week.

Credit: MDHHS


More children hospitalized with COVID

Health officials said Tuesday morning that 107 children are in the hospital with a COVID infection. 

They're seeing 22 new pediatric admissions each day, which is 66 percent higher than the week of Dec. 20.

"The majority of the children who contract COVID have a mild illness that can be cared for at home. However, a small portion of children can develop a serious and life-threatening illness related to COVID and can require admission to the hospital, including the pediatric ICU," Dr. Lauren Yagiela, Pediatric Critical Care Physician at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, said.

Spectrum Health says it has 16 children Hospitalized at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital with COVID right now.

These children can be in the hospital for one to two days or up to a month depending on how severe their case is. 

Once they're out of the hospital, these children are at risk for lasting impacts, like asthma, reduced quality of life, and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Pediatric hospitals are already full due to a seasonal uptick in upper respiratory infections, Dr. Yagiela said. 

"My greatest wish is that families will never need the service I provide in the ICU," Dr. Lauren Yagiela

"Vaccinating children five years and older will help." 

CDC recommends everyone ages 5 years and older get a COVID-19 vaccine to help protect against COVID-19.

Learn more here. 

Testing toolkit 

One of the ways to prevent the spread of the virus is to know who is infected so they can quarantine. 

Officials said PCR testing is still the gold standard and most sensitive test, but antigen tests (rapid) are still an incredibly useful tool. 

MDHHS said they are not keeping track of at-home testing numbers. 

"And I don't think that is a bad thing," Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian said. 

"We are also entering into a new phase that we need to give Michiganders the tools that they need to take care of themselves." 

If you do an at-home COVID test and receive a positive result, you're asked to quarantine and not wait for a call from the health department. 

Officials are working with federal partners to get more at-home tests and other supplies as some are seeing a scarcity of them on store shelves. 

You're still encouraged to get tested before any large gatherings to avoid a spreader event. 

If you need to get tested for COVID, click here.

Herd Immunity? 

Don't expect it anytime soon. 

"Number one, we are not going to reach herd immunity during this surge. This is a very dangerous time for us and this is not what we want to see with cases exploding the way they are," Dr. Bagdasarian said. 

"And the other part I’ll add is that this journey to herd immunity, this journey to endemic COVID, it’s much safer if we rely on vaccine-mediated immunity rather than everyone coming down with COVID in January and February of 2022 and putting our healthcare systems at risk."

New COVID Treatments 

While there is no cure for COVID-19, there are treatments that can lessen the severity of the infection and reduce your risk of hospitalization. 

Hospitals in West Michigan and beyond have been using monoclonal antibodies, and those remain useful for some. 

Recently, two oral antivirals were made available to those at risk for getting hospitalized with COVID. It requires a doctor's prescription and is available in limited quantities in Michigan. 

13 ON YOUR SIDE asked when they would be available in West Michigan. 

Dr. Bagdasarian said her department is still working on numbers and plans for distribution in the future. 

RELATED: MDHHS: 'Scarce' amount of COVID-19 treatment pills distributed in Michigan

How to protect yourself AND your Community

Now more than ever, health officials are during people to mask up in public, even if you've received your booster shot.

Credit: MDHHS

   

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