US surgeon general Jerome Adams made a personal appeal urging Americans to take COVID-19 seriously on New Year’s Eve, after announcing that his wife was admitted to a hospital due to complications from cancer.
“My wife is being admitted to the hospital due to complications from her cancer treatment. I am not allowed to see her due to #COVID-19 restrictions and I hope she doesn’t have to spend the New Year in a hallway because the beds are full. What you do is important, even beyond COVID … “wrote Adams on Twitter on Thursday.
Along with his statement, Adams shared a cartoon image of a masked heart that said, “Dressing is caring.”
My wife is admitted to the hospital due to complications from cancer treatment. I am not allowed to see it due to #COVID-19 restrictions and I hope she doesn’t have to spend the New Year in a hallway because the beds are full. What you do is important, in addition to COVID … pic.twitter.com/vqBqX9xOz6
– Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) December 31, 2020
Adams’ message comes at a time when American hospitals report overwhelming outbreaks of patients with viruses and, in some areas, reach full capacity.
Last week, nearly a fifth of hospitals with intensive care units (ICUs) across the country reported that at least 95 percent of their emergency beds were in use. In total, 78% of intensive care hospital beds were occupied.
The situation has become so dire in some areas that hospitals have been forced to set up makeshift tents and serve patients in the corridors and waiting rooms. In parts of Los Angeles County, the hardest hit county in the U.S., hospitals have had to refuse ambulances that are looking to take new patients.
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Health experts have warned that the situation could get even worse as 2020 comes to an end and new cases are reported amid the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
“We are seeing an increase in cases and mortality above what we expected,” Dr. Ali Mokdad, a senior faculty member at the Institute of Health Metrics and Assessment (IHME) and a former employee of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), previously informed Newsweek.
Mokdad added that he is more concerned that New Year’s Eve celebrations will lead to an increase in cases of viruses, as it is usually spent with friends outside an immediate home.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, said earlier Newsweek that the beginning of the new year is likely to see the worst levels of coronavirus cases so far.
“January is going to be terrible,” he said, before adding that “you’re going to have the sudden increase in Thanksgiving overlapping the increase in Christmas. So it’s perfectly conceivable that January is the worst.”
As of Thursday, the U.S. had recorded more than 19.8 million cases of coronavirus and 344,030 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
New Year’s Eve marks a year since the World Health Organization (WHO) first announced the mysterious disease discovered in China, which was later identified as COVID-19.
Newsweek contacted Adams and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for additional comments, but received no response in time for publication.