Lander Medical Clinic and Western Family Care shared today, November 17th, that they are becoming overwhelmed as the number of COVID cases are “rising exponentially in the County.”
“We are inundated with patients needing to be seen at our clinics – somedays seeing over 100 patients a day just for COVID19 concerns – on top of caring for our regularly scheduled patients,” they said in their statement. “Because of this, as much as 10% of our staff is either out sick or exposed and we are short-staffed.”
The November 16th update from the Fremont County Incident Management Team shared Fremont County’s active COVID cases are nearing 600, and 377 had been confirmed in the last 7 days.
The spike in COVID cases is not just impacting the clinics, but the hospitals as well. “Most days there are no ICU beds and the availability of regular beds is limited also,” according to the statement. “This is concerning as it means the hospital is struggling to care for non-COVID patients, such as those with heart attacks, strokes, and urgent surgical needs. As the states around us are surging – it is hard to find beds for patients elsewhere.”
Lander Medical Clinic and Western Family Care are asking Fremont County residents to take care of each other by wearing a mask, social distance, and to not attend large gatherings. “You may be tired of hearing this but we are stretched thin and resources are limited.”
“Masks may not be a perfect solution, but they do help to slow the spread of COVID19, and right now, we need all the help you can give. Many of our COVID19 patients were either not wearing a mask or are living with someone who did not mask and developed COVID19.”
“Please do not host or attend gatherings of more than 10 people. If you need to be with people outside of your household; be outdoors, six feet apart and…wear a mask.”
“If you get any symptoms of illness – isolate yourself, get tested, and monitor for worsening of your symptoms.”