The Perfect Enemy | Louisville health care workers brace for another COVID-19 surge

I’M ALWAYS WORRIED EVERY TIME I SEE OUR CASE NUMBERS GO UP DR. VALERIE. BRIONA’S PRYOR OF UOFL HEALTH IS WATCNGHI THOSE CASES CLOSELY. THE POSITIVITY RATE IN KENTUCKY IS NOW MORE THAN SEVEN PERCENT AND JEFFERSON COUNTY IS BACK IN THE YELLOW WITH THE RATE OF 13.5% AND FOR THOSE ON THE FRONT LINES, THE NUMBERS ARE TROUBLING AS THEY REMEMBER THOSE THEY’VE TREATED AND LOST THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC AND I SAT IN THERE HOLDING. THIS PATIENT’S HANDS WITH FAMILY ON ZOOM UNTIL HE PASSED. I REMEMBER THAT PATIENT THING TO ME LATER. I’M HONORED TO SPEND MY LTAS DAYS WITH YOU GUYS. THEY WERE AMONG THE TEN NURSES TO VOLUNTEERO TTAFF S A COVID UNIT GETTING A FRONT-ROW SEAT TO THE –ND A ISOLATION OF THE VIRUS AS I WAS. LEAVING HE WAS CRYING. AND HE REACHED OUT FOR ME AND HE SAID THESE DON’T LEAVE ME. AND THAT BROKE ME AT THE HEIGHT OF THE PANDEMIC HERE ON THE COVID FLOOR AT JEWISH HOSPITAL EVERY SINGLE ROOM AND THEN SOME UPSTAIRS AND DOWNSTAIRS WERE FILLED RIGHT NOW. THERE ARE FIVE COVID PATIENTS AND WHILE HOSPITALIZATIONS REMAIN LOW DOCRSTO SAY THEY ARE STILL CONCERNED WITH THESE TRENDS. EREV I HEAR NUMBERS GOING UP. I HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF STRESS IN MY HEART THAT I DON’T KNOW IF I CAN DO THIS AGAIN. OBVIOUSLY,E W WILLO D IT AGAIN IF THAT HAPPENS, BUT IF WEAN C WHATEVER WE CAN DO TO MITIGATE THAT SO WE DON’T HAVE THOSE SURGES WEEE ND TO START NOW. THAT MEANS STAYING HOME IF YOU’RE SICK. THE LATEST STRAIN IS SHOWING UP WITH SYMPTOMS OF FEVER AND CHILLS. YOU ALSO NEED TO KEEP WASHING YOUR HANDS ANDF I IT’S BEEN MORE THAN SIX MONTHS SINCE YOUR BOOSTER CONSIDER ROLLING UP YOUR SLE. ONCE AGAIN, I CAN’T PREACH ENOUGH ABOUT VACCINATIONS. YOU KNOW A LOT OF US GOT VACCINATED A WHILE BACK ANWED GOT TIME TO GET THAT. BOOTH AS FOR THESE NURSES STILL WORKING ON THE COVID FLOOR. THEY’RE HOPING THE NUMBERS WILL TREND DOWN, BUT IF THEY DON’T SINCE WE’VE GOT THIS FOR TWO YEARS, WE’RE READY TO CONTINUE TO DO THIS LORD ADAMS WLKY NEWS LAUREN. THANK YOU WHILE THEY WERE JUST 10 NURSES WHO STAFFED THE COVID

Louisville health care workers brace for another COVID-19 surge

The positivity rate in Kentucky is now more than 7 percent and Jefferson County is back in the yellow with a rate of 13.5 percent.”I’m always worried every time I see our case numbers go up,” Dr. Valerie Briones-Pryor, with UofL Health, said of watching the cases closely.For those on the front lines, the numbers are troubling as the patients treated and lost are remembered.”I sat in there holding this patient’s hand, with his family on Zoom until he passed,” Angela Lux, RN, and Jewish Hospital’s nurse manager on the COVID-19 floor told WLKY Thursday.Another uptick: Jefferson County back in the yellow zone for COVID-19Another RN, Mecha Bowling-Scott, remembered one of her patients who died of COVID-19.”I remembered that patient saying to me later, ‘I’m honored to spend my last days with you guys,'” Bowling-Scott said.They were among the 10 nurses to volunteer to staff a COVID-19 unit, getting a front-row seat to the horrors and isolation of COVID-19.At the height of the pandemic, at Jewish Hospital, every single room on the floor and then some were filled. As of Thursday afternoon, Jewish had five COVID-19 patients and while hospitalizations remain low, doctors are still concerned with these trends.”Whenever I hear numbers going up, I have a little bit of stress in my heart, I don’t know if I can do this again, we obviously will if that happens but whatever we can do to mitigate that so we don’t have those surges we have to start now,” Briones-Pryor said.More on boosters: Growing share of COVID-19 deaths are among vaccinated people, but booster shots lower the riskShe said that means staying home if you are sick. The latest strain is showing up with symptoms of fever and chills. You also need to keep washing your hands, and if it’s been six months since your booster, consider rolling up your sleeve once again.”I can’t preach enough about vaccinations, a lot of us got vaccinated awhile back and we got our booster awhile back, so it may be time to get that booster,” Briones-Pryor said, adding that for most, a second booster after six months is not only safe, but recommended.As for the nurses still working on the COVID-19 floor, they are hoping the numbers will trend down. If they don’t, Angela Lux said, “We’ve done this for two years. We’re ready, we’re ready to continue to do this.”While there were just 10 nurses who staffed the COVID-19 unit in the early days, there are now nearly 50. They and others at U of L Health were recognized this week as part of “National Nurse’s Week.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —

The positivity rate in Kentucky is now more than 7 percent and Jefferson County is back in the yellow with a rate of 13.5 percent.

“I’m always worried every time I see our case numbers go up,” Dr. Valerie Briones-Pryor, with UofL Health, said of watching the cases closely.

For those on the front lines, the numbers are troubling as the patients treated and lost are remembered.

“I sat in there holding this patient’s hand, with his family on Zoom until he passed,” Angela Lux, RN, and Jewish Hospital’s nurse manager on the COVID-19 floor told WLKY Thursday.

Another uptick: Jefferson County back in the yellow zone for COVID-19

Another RN, Mecha Bowling-Scott, remembered one of her patients who died of COVID-19.

“I remembered that patient saying to me later, ‘I’m honored to spend my last days with you guys,'” Bowling-Scott said.

They were among the 10 nurses to volunteer to staff a COVID-19 unit, getting a front-row seat to the horrors and isolation of COVID-19.

At the height of the pandemic, at Jewish Hospital, every single room on the floor and then some were filled. As of Thursday afternoon, Jewish had five COVID-19 patients and while hospitalizations remain low, doctors are still concerned with these trends.

“Whenever I hear numbers going up, I have a little bit of stress in my heart, I don’t know if I can do this again, we obviously will if that happens but whatever we can do to mitigate that so we don’t have those surges we have to start now,” Briones-Pryor said.

More on boosters: Growing share of COVID-19 deaths are among vaccinated people, but booster shots lower the risk

She said that means staying home if you are sick. The latest strain is showing up with symptoms of fever and chills. You also need to keep washing your hands, and if it’s been six months since your booster, consider rolling up your sleeve once again.

“I can’t preach enough about vaccinations, a lot of us got vaccinated awhile back and we got our booster awhile back, so it may be time to get that booster,” Briones-Pryor said, adding that for most, a second booster after six months is not only safe, but recommended.

As for the nurses still working on the COVID-19 floor, they are hoping the numbers will trend down. If they don’t, Angela Lux said, “We’ve done this for two years. We’re ready, we’re ready to continue to do this.”

While there were just 10 nurses who staffed the COVID-19 unit in the early days, there are now nearly 50. They and others at U of L Health were recognized this week as part of “National Nurse’s Week.”