Atlanta

Grady chief medical officer says there are signs of COVID-19 cases leveling off

ATLANTA — The chief medical officer from Grady Memorial Hospital confirmed Friday that there are signs coronavirus cases are starting to level off.

Dr. Robert Jansen told Channel 2′s Carol Sbarge that the fight against COVID-19 is a marathon and that the virus won’t be going away before there is a vaccine.

When cases reached an all-time high in the last few weeks, Jansen said the extra beds at Georgia World Congress Center were a big help.

At one point, Grady had 100 coronavirus patients in the hospital. That was the highest number yet. Now they are able to use the surge beds that the state has at the GWCC.

The hospital has 101 coronavirus patients but 38 of them are at the GWCC.

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“They take what we would consider medical floor patients, which are patients who don’t require critical care but they do require significant services, IV fluids, oxygen,” Jansen said.

He told Sbarge that he credits people following the COVID-19 guidelines aimed at stopping the spread for the leveling off of cases.

“The number of people who are wearing masks seems to be increasing, which is a good sign because that means people are taking this more seriously,” Jansen said.

When Sbarge asked Jansen what he expects in the next few weeks at his hospital, he said it is hard to predict.

He is concerned about some of the coronavirus cases that have spread in some schools that reopened.

“If the kids in schools get sick and if they get home and the parents get sick, the teachers get sick, those are people who are going to be more at risk of requiring hospitalizations, so it’s too early to tell,” Jansen said.

Jansen said the hospital continues to have fewer coronavirus patients in the ICU. He said part of that is from the earlier use of the treatment Remdesivir.