JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – COVID case numbers are on a downward trend in Mississippi, and doctors are hopeful with more people getting vaccinated, booster shots, antibody testing and a possible medication in the works– cases could continue to decrease.
It has been almost two years since the coronavirus pandemic hit Mississippi. Several surges and two variants later, doctors said they’re starting to a light at the end of the tunnel.
“A couple weeks ago, we had we had several wards full of patients with COVID and ICU’s were full, and we noticed a few weeks ago, or about a week ago, admissions started going down,” said Dr. Maria Rappai, pulmonary care physician at the Baptist Medical Center.
Dr. Rappai has been on the frontline since day one. She said right now, there are 17 COVID patients in the hospital, and 10 are in ICU.
“They’ve been here for more than a month or month and a half, so these people are very sick and continuing to make progress but very slow. And that’s been what we’re seeing. The recovery from COVID is very, very slow, and the damage it does to your body is tremendous,” said Dr. Rappai.
Dr. Rappai added that the Baptist is seeing an uptick in regular patients. However, they’re still battling a shortage of nurses.
Baptist Medical Center’s window of opportunity for employees to get the mandate COVID vaccine is narrowing. It ends in November. So far, they said employees have been compliant with the mandate, and those requesting exemptions have already filed.