MILWAUKEE — So far 2022 has health workers grappling with the latest Covid-19 surge.
"It is really tough right now," said Jamie Lucas, the executive director of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals. "It's been really tough for a long time."
Data shows more than 92 percent of beds in intensive care units across the state are in use.
"It's not like all the beds are full, it's that there aren't enough nurses and health care workers to provide care to patients who need those beds," Lucas said.
State officials reported more than 8,000 new confirmed Covid-19 cases Tuesday—an all-time high—due in part they say to numbers still coming in from the holiday weekend.
"This surge in cases is unlike any we've seen in the last 21 months," said Dr. Ben Weston, Milwaukee County's Chief Health Policy Advisor.
Dr. Weston reports Covid-19 has landed a record 635 people in hospitals across the county.
As tens of thousands line up to get tested, the city of Milwaukee reports more than 37 percent of those tests are coming back positive.
"We know what happens a couple weeks after those spikes in cases, and traditionally that's been a spike in hospitalizations," Weston said. "How that will change with omicron, we don't yet know. There are signs that it's more mild disease."
State data shows more than 58 percent of people in Wisconsin are fully vaccinated.
"The vaccine is very often the difference of whether you go home to lay on your couch and watch movies, or you are admitted to the hospital," Weston said.
There will be two mobile vaccination clinics in Milwaukee on Wednesday afternoon: Ascension All Saints Family Health Center at 2400 W. Villard Ave. from 1 p.m to 4 p.m. and COA Goldin Center at 2320 W. Burleigh St. from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
