COVID 19 crisis: Mississippi doctor getting reports of patients waiting for hours in ambulances outside medical facility
Published 6:42 am Saturday, January 9, 2021
- Illustration of antibodies (red and blue) responding to an infection with the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (purple). The virus emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and causes a mild respiratory illness (covid-19) that can develop into pneumonia and be fatal in some cases. The coronaviruses take their name from their crown (corona) of surface proteins, which are used to attach and penetrate their host cells. Once inside the cells, the particles use the cells' machinery to make more copies of the virus. Antibodies bind to specific antigens, for instance viral proteins, marking them for destruction by other immune cells.
One of Mississippi’s health care leaders said the COVID-19 crisis in the state is so critical, that he is hearing of patients having to wait outside for up to five hours in ambulances before being able to be treated inside one of the state’s facilities.
Dr. Mark Horne, president of the state Medical Association, told WAPT news in Jackson that he had heard from what he called “a solid source” that patients had to wait up to five hours in ambulances at one of the state’s hospitals.
Horne did not name the hospital but said a good friend of his gave him the information. Horne said he had heard of other similar situations in other parts of the country, but this was the first time he had heard of patients having to wait in ambulances for care at a Mississippi facility.
The state Health Department reported Friday that Mississippi had 2,175 new confirmed cases of the highly contagious virus as of Thursday evening. The department also reported 40 deaths Friday, with 26 of them happening between Dec. 16 and Thursday. The state has reported nearly 233,665 cases of the virus and 5,101 deaths from it since the start of the pandemic.
